Country Report International Labor Market

Skills for the international labour market:
Bangladesh country report

Part of a multi-country labour market trend analysis for migrant workers from South Asia
to the member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
ILO Country Office for Bangladesh

Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment
Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training

Copyright 2015 by the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, the Bureau of Manpower Employment and
Training and the International Labour Organization
First Printing, 2015
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Publication data for citation

The Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, and the
International Labour Organization: Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report, Dhaka, 2015
TVET / technical training / vocational training / woman worker / international migration / labour migration / migrant worker /
working conditions / migration policy / remittance / training of trainers / Bangladesh / ILO / BMET / MEWOE
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the consultant who prepared the report. They do not necessarily
represent opinions of the publishers, the European Commission or the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
First printed in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Preface
Bangladesh has been formulating and adopting national laws and policies to govern the labour migration process. The Government has also adopted national policies that address the skills development
of workers. Recognizing the need for increasing the competitiveness of its labour force, the Ministry
of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment (MEWOE) has undertaken various initiatives in
technical cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) through a programme called
Promoting Decent Work through Improved Migration Policy and its Application in Bangladesh,
which is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). In addition, both
the MEWOE and its executing arm, the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET),
have mobilised resources from and cooperated with a range of stakeholders to enhance workers skills.
The Government of Bangladesh has adopted National Technical and Vocational Qualifications Frameworks (NTVQF) in order to align the qualifications available in the country to better reflect the growing and changing occupational and skill profiles in both domestic and international labour markets.
The NTVQF is supporting stronger integration of skills training in community organisations, schools,
training institutions and the workplace, by providing a common national benchmark for the naming
the achievement of qualifications. The National Skills Development Policy (NSDP) of Bangladesh desires that all training institutions deliver training in a manner that is aligned with the NTVQF. BMET,
while moving towards this alignment, is ensuring that the current needs for short-term courses for the
workers migrating abroad is met well. It has also undertaken a number of efforts to understand the
in-demand skills in major destination countries. This is to ensure that Bangladeshi workers have the
opportunity to receive nationally recognized qualifications that is based on industry demands.
Labour market trends and production technologies, however, are fast evolving and the skills workers need for productive labour market participation, are also fast evolving. Efforts are required to
help establish Bangladeshi workers credentials abroad by continuously improving their labour
productivity. Specific efforts are required to develop skills that match the demand for skills and
competencies that are relevant to current production practices in destination countries. The task
before the government is more than daunting because a large number of actors are involved in
training Bangladeshi workers, particularly in technical and vocational training of less than sixmonth duration. Not all of these actors follow standardized curricula or adhere to the national
certification system. But the efforts being made by the government demonstrates their commitment to boost labour productivity. The MEWOE and BMET are also working on the job-seeker
registration and plan to use the international occupational classification, which would enhance
possibility for wage negotiations in the international recruitment process.
This study presents current challenges in terms of matching skill demand and supply. It recommends measures to be adopted to improve relevance and quality of training services for Bangladeshi workers who would like to migrate for employment.
Khandaker Md Iftekhar Haider
Secretary
Government of Bangladesh

Begum Shamsun Nahar
Director-general
Government of Bangladesh
Srinivas B Reddy
Country Director
Nisha
Chief Technical Advisor
v
Acknowledgements
The Bangladesh country report has been developed for practitioners, policymakers and technical
and vocational training providers and NGOs involved in labour migration from Bangladesh. We
are grateful to Mehruna Islam Chowdhury who prepared this report. We extend our thanks to the
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for the funding of this research through the ILO
programme for Promoting Decent Work through Improved Migration Policy and its Application
in Bangladesh. Grateful acknowledgement is also made to all government and non-government organizations who have participated in the research, including, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and
Overseas Employment, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Directorate
of Technical Education, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), National Skills
Development Council, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training, ILOs Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Reform Project in Bangladesh, Bangladesh Association
of International Recruiting Agencies, and several public and private sector training institutions,
including the Technical Training Centres of the BMET.
vi
Contents
Preface v
Contents vii
Abbreviations and acronyms
x
Executive summary
xiii
Part 1: Country profile of migration
1. Background of the report
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Study objective and research questions
1.3 Methodology
3
4
5
2. Demand-supply matching in the migration process
2.1 Establishing demand for migrant workers

2.2 Demand trend
2.3 Connecting workers with demand
2.4 Recruitment and selection process
2.5 Malpractice in the recruitment system
2.6 Female migrant workers
8
9
11
12
14
15
3. Preparation of migrant workers
19
3.1 Historical connections of workers

3.2 TVET system for migrant workers
19
20
4. Role of the Government in promoting migration
29
4.1 Government policies and planning

4.2 Delivering Skills Training
4.3 Establishing bilateral agreements with destination countries
29
31
33
5. Services for migrant workers
35
5.1 Pre-departure services

5.2 In-country support
5.3 Other services
5.4 Support for sending remittances
35
37
38
39
vii
6. Maximizing economic value from returning migrants
43
6.1 Benefits to the labour market

6.2 Benefits to the economy
43
44
7. Information services related to migration
49
Part 2: Profile analysis and implications for action
53
Bibliography 63
Annex 67
Annex I: List of key informants interviewed
Annex II: Total employment of migrant workers and remittance inflow by destination country
Annex III: TTC pass rates, 2013
viii
67
69
71
Tables
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Flow of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia by skill, 2005-12

Cost structure of migration in Bangladesh
Number of female migrant workers to select destination countries
Distribution of migrants by gender a division (in per cent)
Percentage of population according by education and education level
Number of trainers and enrolment of women workers in training institutions in 2012
Skills levels under NTVQF
Pilot Programmes at RTOs under NTVQF
Forms of sending money by migrants
Distribution of remittance savings by category
Distribution of remittance savings by category and division, 2012-13
Remittance flows from Middle East countries (US$ millions)
Organizations sources of online information and areas covered
Mechanisms for supporting the Government in developing the migration process
and capacity building of migrant workers
7
10
15
16
17
21
27
28
34
36
37
37
40
50
Figures
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Official process of migration from Bangladesh to various destination countries

Selection and recruitment of migrant workers by recruiting agents
Total Employment of female workers
Number of trainees who passed training courses in institutions under BMET
Total overseas employment and remittance inflow
Measures for integrating returning migrant workers
6
11
13
18
39
49
Boxes
1.
2.
3.
Female worker subject to malpractices of the recruitment system

Pre-departure trainings at BKTTC
Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Technical Centre for Women
14
31
31
Abbreviations and acronyms

ADB
BAIRA
BANBEIS
BBS
BDT
BMET
BOESL
BRAC
BSEP
BTEB
CAD
CBT
CIP
CoD
COEL
DEMO
DTE
EC
EPS-TOPIK
EPZ
GCC
GDP
HIV
HSC
ILO
IOM
ISC
MEWOE
MOU
NCB
NGO
NPVC
NSC
Asian Development Bank

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies
Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
Bangladesh takaBKTTC Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Centre
Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training
Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited
Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee
Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity Project
Bangladesh Technical Education Board
computer-aided design
Competency Based Training
Commercially Important Person
Country of Destination
Centre of Excellence for Leather
District Employment and Manpower Offices
Directorate of Technical Education
European Commission
Employment Permit System Test of Proficiency in Korean
export processing zone
Gulf Cooperation Council
Gross Domestic Product
human immunodeficiency virus
Higher secondary certificate
International Labour Organization
International Organization for Migration
Industry Skills Council
memorandum of understanding
national commercial bank
Non-Government Organization
National Pre-vocation Certificate
National Skill Certificate
NSDC
NSDP
NSQAS
NTVQF
OKUP
RMMRU
RPL
RTO
SDC
SDP
SEP-B
SME
SSC
STEP
SUR
TMSS
TTC
TVET
UAE
UCEP
US$
National Skills Development Council

National Skills Development Policy
National Skills Quality Assurance System
National Technical and Vocational Qualification Framework
Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme
Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit
recognition of prior learning
registered training organization
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Skills Development Project
Skills and Employment Programme Bangladesh
small and medium enterprise
Senior secondary certificate
Skills and Training Enhancement Project
Survey on the Use of Remittance
Thangamara Mohila Shobuj Shongho
Technical Training Centre
Technical and Vocational Education and Training
United Arab Emirates
Underprivileged Childrens Education Programs
United States dollar
xi
Executive
summary
Executive
summary
Country profile on labour migration: key issues
abour migration and remittances generated by migrant workers have contributed significantly
to the Bangladesh economy for several years. A total of 6.4 million male and female workers
with various skills are currently working overseas. The primary destination countries are Saudi
Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, Republic of
Korea, among others. This report focuses on labour migration trends from Bangladesh to the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Malaysia.
The Government of Bangladesh has adopted various regulations for governing the migration process, including the Emigration Ordinance, 1982, the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act
2013, the Recruiting Agents License and Conduct Rules, 2002, among others. These regulations
contain details on the responsibilities of various actors in the labour migration process. Various
government ministries and their affiliated organizations are involved in the governance of migration in Bangladesh. Private recruitment agencies, licenced and regulated by the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment (MEWOE) and the Bureau of Manpower Employment
and Training (BMET), have a vital role in the recruitment process. Matching demand for workers
in destination countries with aspirant migrant workers is done by private recruitment agencies
registered with the BMET, as well as the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited
(BOESL), the only government organization fulfilling the role of recruiter. Despite the prevalence
of various well-articulated provisions in existing regulations, malpractice in the recruitment process
is common, which erodes gains from migration. Common malpractices include the imposition of
high migration costs and fees on workers, providing wrong information to foreign employers on
workers skills, among other things. Due to high costs associated with migration imposed by some
recruiting agents, many workers resort to illegal channels to migrate overseas, making workers subject to abuse and violence. Female migrant workers are most vulnerable and often subject to abuse
during their stints as domestic workers in various GCC countries.
Low-skilled migrant workers from across Bangladesh who are willing to work for low wages meet
short-term labour demand in destination countries such as the GCC countries and Malaysia. The
prevailing migration trend features a mismatch between demand in the destination countries and
the supply of Bangladeshi migrant workers in terms of competencies and experience. In order to
ensure the employability of migrant workers in the destination countries, increasing competitiveness of Bangladeshi workers is required. Increasing employability requires worker skill development with relevance to the international market. Developing and implementing skills development policies with an emphasis on quality and relevance are required in this context. Efficient
distribution of resources needs to be mobilized by identifying priority areas in skills development.
xiii
xiv
Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report
Recognizing the need for increasing the competitiveness of its labour force, the Government of
Bangladesh, with support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and various development partners, has undertaken programmes for skills development of workers. Programmes on
technical and vocational education and training (TVET) have been adopted by various training
centres established under the BMET. A number of non-government organizations (NGOs) and
private institutions have also provided training to workers nationwide. Efforts are being made to
improve the quality and relevance of technical training being provided to the trainees. However,
the efforts still result in less output compared to the needs and requirements of the local economy.
In the context of matching migrant workers skills with foreign demand, it must be mentioned that
technology used in industries in different destination countries vary. Training currently available in
Bangladesh lacks market relevance due to dated curricula and technology used in training courses.
Trainees who receive training in Bangladesh do not acquire skills to utilize new technology and
industrial practices in destination countries. More efforts are needed in terms of adopting curricula that are equivalent to that used in destination countries. Overall improvement is necessary to
increase the capacity of relevant trainings and develop training infrastructure.
BMETs affiliated training centres, private training institutions, and private recruiting agencies
provide migrant workers pre-departure orientation training based on modules developed per the
demands of the destination countries. These trainings are mostly provided to female migrant workers who migrate as domestic workers to the GCC countries, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and others. To
some extent these trainings prepare workersespecially female migrant workersto cope with the
socio-cultural environment in the destination countries.
In the case of trade-based trainings, there is lack of proper mechanisms to incorporate foreign demand into the training curricula. The reason for this is due to the demand for unskilled labourers
in key destination countries, including GCC countries, Malaysia, and others, where they emphasize practical experience gained by workers rather than certificates obtained from training courses.
Job placement cells exist in government technical training centres (TTCs) and some of the private
training centres. These cells are supposed to keep information on the trainees who pass out of these
centres in order to observe what kinds of job opportunities their trainees avail in the domestic or
international labour markets. However, as observed at the TTCs visited during this study, the job
placement cells are unable to perform efficiently. It is difficult to know how many trainees who
participated in trade-based trainings in these institutions migrated for jobs overseas. Participation
of female migrant workers in trade-based training is low. This is in part due to high demand for female migrant workers to work as domestic workers in the destination countries. Another reason for
low womens participation in training for trades is the negative social attitude concerning womens
participation in trade-based occupations.
Training provided by private recruiting agencies to some extent meets the demand of foreign companies through providing short-term trade-based training tailored to foreign companies requirements. However, these trainings only meet the skills required for short-term jobs overseas offered
by specific foreign employers. Recruiting agents do not take any initiative to enhance long-term
capacity and productivity of migrant workers. However, some recruiting agents hire returning
migrants, which is a noteworthy measure towards reintegrating returnees into the economy. Tech-
Executive summary
XV
nical training at other private institutions is provided by diploma engineers who do not have any
practical work experience in industry.
A number of NGOs and workers organizations provide support to migrant workers in terms of
providing them accommodation facilities during training, counselling them on safe migration and
workers rights, among other services. However, these organizations are unable to function properly due to a lack of financial and human resource capacities. Accommodating and creating job opportunities for returnees is difficult in Bangladesh even if they possess updated skills through their
overseas job experience. The recognition of prior learning (RPL) system is a commendable measure
adopted under the National Skills Development Policy (NSDP) 2011. Proper implementation of
RPL is necessary for migrant workers to ensure recognition of their acquired skills through their
previous foreign job experience. Acquiring RPL certification will facilitate returnees in finding
jobs in the domestic market and also securing jobs in the international market through repeat migration. However, the RPL system is unable to operate efficiently due to a lack of assessors at the
RPL centres to assess workers existing skills. Furthermore, undertaking measures to assess skills of
returnees and ensure them further job opportunities is not possible without tracking the returnees
and proper planning for their reintegration. In this case, systematic recordkeeping of the returning
migrants in Bangladesh is necessary.
The macroeconomic literature identifies various factors that have significant impacts on the effectiveness of migration in fostering growth and development of the economy. Factors in the domestic market include the countrys income level, inflation level, interest rate, and political stability.
Research work conducted by the Bangladesh Bank found that factors affecting remittance earnings
include inflation, exchange rate, wage rate, and regulatory and institutional arrangements of the
Government. Having been affected by various factors, migrants from Bangladesh have contributed
to the economy through income generation for their families, savings and investment of their
earned remittances, and their acquired knowledge and skills from overseas employment.
The BMET is the best source of information relating to labour migration in Bangladesh. However,
there are other organizations, including the Bangladesh bank, the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), among
others, that collect information on migration. Besides these, there are many research organizations
and NGOs working on various aspects of labour migration. Coordination is required among the
various institutions and the Government to address the prevailing weaknesses within the labour
migration process and in enhancing the competitiveness of Bangladeshi migrant workers.
Areas of concern and implications for action

Sustainable gains from migration cannot be ensured unless discrepancies within the recruitment
process are removed. Actions are required at the policy and implementation levels for developing
the recruitment process of labour migration. Long-term employability of Bangladeshi migrant
workers requires coordination among regulations related to migration and skills development policies and actions. Skills development programmes should be developed through resource mobiliza-
XVI
tion and efficient implementation. In this regard, a coordinated effort is required from the various
ministries and their affiliated departments related to labour migration and skills enhancement of
workers. Coordination is also required from international agencies, bilateral agencies, and international and local NGOs to ensure effective resource utilization and efficient implementation of
various programmes related to migration and skills development of workers. Coordination and
planning is required to address the following issues:
adopt measures to ensure the recruitment process follows existing rules and policies;
establish mechanisms to develop relevant training structures for effective demand-supply
matching in the migration process;
facilitate female migrant workers; and
build awareness on safe migration processes and upgrading skills.
In order to remove discrepancies from the migration process, monitoring and supervision is important. This is required to ensure efficient performance by various stakeholders in the migration
process, including private recruitment agents. Strengthening the monitoring wing of the Ministry
of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment (MEWOE) is necessary. For special monitoring
of female workers, a separate unit under the Ministry could be established. Stringent monitoring of
private recruiting agents activities may enable the BMET to bring the whole recruitment process
under control. In addition to this, classifying and grading the agencies based on their performance
and disseminating the grades to various stakeholders will increase awareness among the agents.
This will also facilitate migrant workers in choosing the right agents through which they can establish linkages with overseas employers. The BMET has developed a database for migrant workers with the objective of creating a ready pool of workers for overseas employment. Discrepancies
prevail within this database that need to be addressed through engaging persons in preparing the
database who are well acquainted with migration related issues and have compatible computer
skills. Engaging recruiting agents and TTCs in this case may be effective in maintaining a proper
registration process.
For ensuring demand-supply matching of migrant workers in terms of skills and competencies,
it is necessary to develop relevant training structures that will be responsive to the needs of the
destination countries. To ensure matching, the first requirement is to explore and identify new opportunities for workers in the destination countries. The next step is to develop a training structure
through research-based initiatives to align training to existing demand. For efficient implementation of TVET programmes, human resource capacity of the department of training under the
BMET needs to be developed. Capacity building in the Bangladesh Technical Education Board
(BTEB) is required for curriculum development of competency-based training and certification as
per the National Technical and Vocational Qualification Framework (NTVQF). The Directorate
of Technical Education (DTE) needs to be well-equipped in providing infrastructure and technical
support to BTEB in this regard. Resource mobilization and efficient utilization of resources are
vital in capacity building of the various institutions and developing a competent training structure
for migrant workers. Increasing the number of assessors certified by the BTEB as well as increasing the number of accredited training institutions is essential to reach out to the large number of
workers who migrate for employment and those returning. This calls for coordination among
BTEB, BMET, other training providers and development partners. Regular practical trainings for
Executive summary
XVII
the trainers, as well as assessments of the assessors and trainers, are very important. International
recognition of the national-level trainings acquired by Bangladeshi migrants would require mutual
negotiation at the government level. Skills accreditation and standardization of migrant worker
training should be brought under bilateral negotiations and memorandums of understanding
(MoUs) signed with the destination countries.
Bangladeshi female workers who largely work as housekeepers in the key destination countries
need to be made more aware of lawful migration procedures and safe migration through mass
awareness campaigns and also during orientation courses provide at the TTCs. To promote the
employability of women in diversified jobs, women should be encouraged to adopt trade-based
training at the TTCs to build their skills in non-traditional occupations. Accommodation facilities
for female workers at the TTCs should be developed focusing on their security and providing quality food and lodging. Female labour attachs need to be appointed in the Bangladesh embassies
located in key destination countries.
Intervention by the Government is needed to maintain records on various aspects of migration
through coordinated efforts of various departments in the MEWOE. In this regard, cooperation
is required from the private recruitment agencies. Embassies in key destination countries need to
have human resource capacity to support migrant workers in dealing with various problems encountered during their stints overseas. Addressing the prevailing gaps within various aspects of the
migration process in Bangladesh is not possible for the Government alone without support from
development agencies. Various international development agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), bilateral and multilateral agencies, and local NGOs have adopted programmes
for safe migration, promotion of decent employment opportunities for migrant workers, and their
skills development. Ensuring a lawful migration process with demand-supply matching in terms
of workers skills requires financial and technical support from the various development agencies.
This support should be aimed at capacity building of public organizations in policy formulation,
as well as supporting infrastructure and human resource development of both public and private
organizations and training institutions. In this regard, effective coordination through regular consultations and dialogues, as well as effective monitoring, are prerequisites for the proficient implementation and functioning of various programmes.
Part 1:
Country profile of migration
Background
of
the
Background
report 1 of the report
Chapter
1.1 Introduction
Bangladesh, like other South Asian countries, has a labour surplus that the domestic market is
incapable of absorbing. An additional 2 million young people are added to the countrys labour
force every year. Given this situation, international labour migration contributes to the economy
through overseas employment and income generation and adds 11 per cent to the countrys Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) through remittance inflows.1 Statistics from the Bureau of Manpower
and Employment (BMET) indicate that almost 9.2 million Bangladeshi workers, a combination
of professional, skilled, semi-skilled, and less-skilled migrated. A large number of them are currently working in various countries abroad.2 The BMET statistics show that a total of 30,073
Bangladeshi workers were employed in overseas jobs in 1980.3 This figure has increased to 425,684
in 2014. During this period, remittance inflows to Bangladesh have increased from US$301.33
million in 19804 to $15,309.47 million5 in the financial year 2014-15. Female migration from
Bangladesh has also increased as reflected in the BMET data. The year over year increase in female
migration was 51.2 per cent in 2013, which is significantly higher than a negative 12.9 per cent
recorded in 1992. Based on the trend of the last 40 years, it can be predicted that the migration of
workers from Bangladesh will continue in the foreseeable future.
The main destinations for Bangladeshi migrants are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE),
Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Malaysia, and Singapore. Saudi Arabia has absorbed the largest number of
migrant workers for the last three decades. In 2001, 83 per cent of Bangladeshi overseas workers
were employed in Saudi Arabia. After this period, the proportion of Bangladeshi workers working
in the country declined for reasons discussed in chapter 2. Over the last few years, Malaysia has
become a substantive market to absorb labourers from Bangladesh (ILO, 2014). The Government
of Bangladesh has adopted bilateral agreements and signed MOUs with governments of various
destination countries for sending migrant workers for specific occupations.
The labour migration trend in Bangladesh shows that there is an increase in the outflow of lowskilled and semi-skilled workers, which is also the case in other South Asian countries (ILO,
2014a). Whereas 40 per cent of migrant workers from Bangladesh were skilled in 2010, this figure
has declined to 34 per cent in 2012 (The Financial Express, 2014). Low-skilled and semi-skilled
workers face more problems than skilled workers in terms of protection of their rights in the destination countries. Low-skilled workers also often resort to illegal channels to migrate to work in for-
This figure is for the fiscal year 2012-13 as per Bangladesh Bank statistics. Available from: Monthly Fiscal Report (April, 2014), Ministry
of Finance, Bangladesh.
2
Skilled workers refer to those who possess a broad range of knowledge and practical skill and can accomplish tasks by applying all
acquainted methods, tools, materials, and information. These type of workers are able to find solutions to problems through applying
knowledge from past experiences by undertaking overall responsibility. Semi-skilled workers have moderately broad knowledge and the
practical and solve regular problems by using simple techniques under supervision but autonomy to certain degree. Less-skilled workers
possess very limited general knowledge and skills to carry out simple tasks under direct supervision (ILO, 2014c).
3
Available at: http://www.bmet.gov.bd/BMET/index [accessed 16 Jul 2015].
4
Available at: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_117970.pdf [accessed 16 Jul 2015].
5
Available at https://www.bb.org.bd/openpdf.php [accessed 16 Jul 2015].
1
eign countries, making them subject to even greater abuse and violence. The Government should
undertake proper measures to ensure that the recruitment of migrant workers is done in line with
government regulations, ensuring workers safety in the destination countries. On the other hand,
despite the current demand trend for unskilled workers in the GCC countries, Malaysia, and other
countries, initiatives should be adopted to develop a skilled workforce. Skilling the workforce and
simultaneously engaging in bilateral negotiations with destination countries to send skilled workers are necessary for ensuring long-term employability of Bangladeshs migrant workers.
Recognizing the necessity for enhancing the competitiveness of migrant workers from Bangladesh
in the international labour market, various ministries and their affiliated organizations have adopted
skills development programmes. The TVET Reform Project was adopted with funding and support
from the Government of Bangladesh, the European Commission (EC), and the ILO. Trainings are
also being provided by TTCs under the BMET, many NGOs, private recruiting agencies, among
others. However, gaps within the training programmes remain in terms of developing quality skills
among migrant workers with relevance to meet demand in the destination countries.
This report provides an analytical overview of the labour migration process from Bangladesh to
the destination countries. The report also includes the existing practices of worker demand-supply
matching by the various actors in the overall recruitment process. The report aims to explore the effectiveness of the skills development programmes adopted in Bangladesh for enhancing employment
opportunities for workers abroad. The study is based on the objectives detailed in the next section.
1.2 Study objective and research questions

The report provides an overview of how Bangladesh manages labour migration. It aims to explore
ways in which the country can adapt to changing demand in the labour markets of the selected
destination countries. This study is based on the following objectives:
to assess the practices and adequacy of existing labour market (planning) approaches; and
to identify how Bangladesh can improve its response to the needs of destination countries.
With the above objectives in view, the study evolved with the following research questions:
What is the present migration profile in Bangladesh and to what extent is migration being
managed? Specifically, to what extent in practice are the countrys institutions (government,
NGO, and other) engaged with the migrant labour migration processes such as skills training
systems, certification, recruitment, employment, migrant preparation, migrant reintegration,
financial transfers of remittances, among other processes?
What opportunities exist for process management which can increase the competitiveness of
and demand for Bangladeshi migrant workers and maximize the economic benefits from migrant labour and returnees?
The study aims to identify areas and gaps which can be addressed with development assistance
to increase the competitiveness of migrant workers in the international labour market and make
them more beneficial to the Bangladesh economy upon their return from the destination coun-
Chapter 1: Background of the Report
tries. The study will also identify and discuss the extent of support required for migrant workers.
This report will finally make recommendations on areas which can be improved and supported by
different stakeholders to more effectively and efficiently support short-term migration of workers
from Bangladesh.
1.3 Methodology
This report on Bangladesh as a country of origin includes a variety of issues addressing various aspects of labour migration. The report provides information on various elements of the labour migration process including issues related to skills development, employment and skills development
policies and regulations, and remittance generation by migrant workers. Sources used to collect the
information include available secondary data on the labour market, especially on migrant workers and government policies and plans. Several reports and studies were also consulted during the
preparation of this report, including existing studies on Bangladeshs labour migration and skills
development, published reports on government ministries and institutions, reports prepared by international organizations and development agencies, and civil society organizations policy briefs.
Data on various aspects of skills development, including the number of trainees at government
training centres and information on course curricula, were collected from relevant stakeholders
through visiting the institutions. Qualitative information collected from interviews with different
stakeholder groups is a major source of information for this study. The selection of stakeholders for
interviews was aimed to include people from various sectors in order to achieve an accurate picture
of the multidimensional nature of the labour migration process. In this regard, actors from the
public and private sectors, civil society organizations, academics, workers, returnees, and trainers
were included in the interview process. The key informant interviews were conducted from 7 July
to 7 September 2014. The interviewed stakeholders were from the following groups:
ministry officials;
private recruiting agents;
officials from the Bangladesh Association of International Recruitment Agencies (BAIRA);
international experts on skill development projects for migrant workers in Bangladesh;
apex body and other relevant stakeholders for worker skill development;
public and private training centres;
research organizations;
NGOs working on migration; and
female and returning migrant workers.
A list of the key informants interviewed for this study can be found in annex I. The study also
gathered information from web pages of relevant institutions and organizations.
Demand-supply
matching
in the
Demand-supply
matching
2
in the migration
process
migration
process
Chapter
his chapter focuses on the overall migration process, including the procedures for establishing linkages between foreign demand and aspirant workers, demand trends for Bangladeshi workers in the destination countries, and the status of female migrant workers.
In this context, functions of various actors involved in the migration process are also discussed.
Generating benefits from short-term migration depends on the efficiency in the overall migration
process. If labour migration does not correspond to the international labour demand, positive
outcomes cannot be extracted from workers migration. According to the Emigration Ordinance
1982, the BMET was tasked with regulating the overall labour migration process. In October
2013, the Emigration Ordinance 1982 was replaced by the Overseas Employment and Migrants
Act 2013 in an effort to improve the governance of labour migration. This is the first ever law on
labour migration which was drafted with technical support from the ILO.
Following a substantial increase in the number of migrants since 1981, the Government started
to provide licenses to private recruiting agencies in 1984 under the governance of the BMET.
Currently there are 876 recruiting agents that are authorized by the Government to conduct migration-related activities. These recruiting agents act as intermediaries between overseas employers
and aspirant workers willing to migrate for overseas jobs. According to the Overseas Employment
and Migrants Act 2013, recruiting agents have to select workers for foreign employment from a
BMET database that includes information on the aspirant migrant workers. Workers willing to
go for overseas jobs have to register their names at union offices and declare their occupational
expertise. However, there are many workers who do not register their names with the BMET and
apply for overseas jobs through their own contacts.
Over the last few years, there are several challenges that the Government of Bangladesh has faced
regarding the labour migration process. The issues are related to the costs of migration, prevalence
of middlemen or dalals, lack of awareness among the workers regarding the lawful process of migration, and the matching of skill demand and supply. The first step in the migration process is the
establishment of foreign demand for migrant workers, in the course of which several actors are involved, including the BMET, private recruiting agents and their subagents, and foreign employers
in the destination countries. A lawful and efficient migration procedure depends on the effective
performance of these actors.
2.1 Establishing demand for migrant workers

There are several institutions involved in the labour migration process, include Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment and two government bodies operating under it, namely
the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training and the Bangladesh Overseas Employment
and Services Limited. Recruitment agents in Bangladesh establish linkages between employers in
the destination countries and the aspirant migrant workers in Bangladesh. However, a considerable number of migrant workers get information on overseas employment opportunities from their
social networks, including their family members, relatives, and friends. Subagents are also one
of the major mediums through which overseas demand for workers is established (ILO, 2014b).
However, without completing the formalities with BMET, recruitment agents are not authorized
to conduct activities related to labour migration. The recruiting agencies have their national-level association called the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA),
which is responsible for protecting the rights of the migrant workers. Figure 1 shows the official
migration process.
Figure 1: Official process of migration from Bangladesh to various destination countries
Registration
Opening
bank
account
Checking
contract
paper
Migration
abroad
National
identity
certificate
Briefing
from BMET
Checking
visa
Luggage
preparation
Birth
certificate
Training
Recieving
contract paper
Medical
check-up
Passport
Searching
for job
opportunity
Recieving
visa
Smart
card
Source: ILO, 2014b.
Chapter 2: Demand-supply matching in the migration process
According to the official migration process as depicted in figure 1, aspirant workers willing to migrate for overseas jobs need to register in the BMET database through District Employment and
Manpower Offices (DEMOs) or at BAIRA offices. The workers then need to go through various
formalities including preparation of documents such as passport, birth certificate, among others.
The workers need to attend training, apply for visas, and go through medical check-ups. Workers
are issued smart cards and are cleared for migrating after they fulfil all of the official requirements
(ILO, 2014b).
In the process of migration through recruiting agents, overseas companies send copies of demand
letters to the recruiting agents in Bangladesh with their requirements on the category of workers
and skills. There are a number of recruitment agencies in Bangladesh who have their own representatives in the destination countries and get information on demand for workers through them.
Bangladeshi recruiting agents also contact recruiting agents in the destination countries authorized
by their respective governments. The representatives of the recruiting agencies from Bangladesh
sometimes travel to potential destination countries to collect information on demand for workers
in these countries. Local recruiting agents mostly operate through foreign agents and their subagents in the destination countries. Within this process, local agents must prove the authenticity
of the demand letters to the BMET. Meeting all the requirements as per BMET and MEWOE,
recruiting agents select and recruit workers according to the requirements specified by foreign
employers. However, during the overall process mentioned above, several anomalies prevail, which
are discussed in section 2.5.
2.2 Demand trend

Migrant workers from Bangladesh often migrate for overseas employment in Middle Eastern
countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya, and Sudan. In addition to these, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Republic of Korea,
United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, among others, are destination countries. Annex II provides data on
overseas employment in the GCC countries and Malaysia.6 Saudi Arabia has historically been a
major destination for migrant workers. However, a decline has been observed in the number of migrants to Saudi Arabia after 2001, with a drastic decline from 2009 according to BMET statistics.
This reduction is the result of the imposition of restrictions by the Saudi Government on Bangladeshi workers due to the large number of migrants already in the country, a number that exceeded
the quota set by the Saudi Government. In addition to this, a large number of migrants going to
the country through illegal channels has influenced the decision of the Saudi Government. However, with the existing Bangladeshi migrants there, Saudi Arabia is still the largest source of remittances for Bangladesh, making up 22 per cent of the total remittance inflow between January and
July 2014. Migration to Qatar has recently increased due to large infrastructure projects related to
the upcoming World Cup to be hosted in that country. World Cup-related construction requires
large numbers of workers in the construction sector. In addition to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, India
is reputed to be a major labour receiving country.
No official statistics are available on labour migration from Bangladesh to India in BMET database.
10
Table 1: Flow of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia by skill, 2005-12

Year
Less-skilled
Semi-skilled
Skilled
Professional
2005
44 026
5 797
29 954
288
2006
69 327
5 226
33 854
123
2007
164 425
4 042
35 065
151
2008
111 156
2 082
18 519
234
2009
12 467
418
1 651
103
2010
6 037
814
169
36
2011
13 135
1 677
168
2012
17 949
2 587
617
20
Source: ILO, 2014c
According to World Bank statistics, 3,190,769 workers from Bangladesh went to India as migrants
in 2010 (IOM, 2013).
During the 1990s, Malaysia was an important destination for migrant workers from Bangladesh.
However, irregularities in the recruitment process caused the Malaysian Government to impose
a ban on Bangladeshi workers in 2009 (ILO, 2014a). From March 2013, the Government of
Bangladesh has barred private recruiting agencies from sending workers to Malaysia. Complaints
against the recruiting agencies included sending workers with false documents and charging high
fees from the workers (Jureidini, 2014). This was followed by a bilateral arrangement between the
governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia for sending Bangladeshi migrant workers only for the
jobs in plantations. However, only 1,000 workers have gone to Malaysia under government to
government arrangement in the last one and a half years (Siddiqui, 2014).
Bangladeshi workers possessing various skills and occupations migrate to several countries of destination (CoDs). Table 1 shows that most of the migrant workers going to Saudi Arabia are lessskilled (ILO, 2014c). Official statistics show that labourers and cleaners are the most common
occupations for migrant labour in Saudi Arabia. These workers do not possess any skills when they
travel to the destination country.
Compared to other occupations, a large number of migrant workers from Bangladesh worked in
the agriculture sector in Saudi Arabia during 2005 to 2008. However, according to available statistics, no workers have worked in this sector since 2009, which shows the negative impact of the ban
by the Saudi Government on employment generation for aspirant Bangladeshi migrant workers in
Saudi Arabia. The number of female workers who worked as labourers in Saudi Arabia was 7.81
per cent of total Bangladeshi workers employed in 2005. This number decreased to 0.12 per cent
in 2014.7 It is perceived that housekeeping job opportunities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Republic
of Korea, and other destinations will create new alternative employment opportunities for female
workers from Bangladesh. Ensuring long-term employability of female workers and availing these
new opportunities requires workers to be adequately prepared through pre-departure job training
and sent to these jobs according to government regulations.
Estimated from the BMET database available at http://www.bmet.gov.bd/BMET/stattisticalDataAction [last accessed 16 July 2015].
11
Labourers working as carpenters, cleaners, cooks, drivers, and agricultural workers migrated at
higher rates than other occupations to the UAE. In 2010, 18 per cent of total workers going to
the UAE were carpenters. Employment demand in Qatar has been primarily for labourers, masons, technicians, drivers, carpenters, steel fixers, among others. It is perceived that the upcoming
World Cup in Qatar will create more job opportunities for South Asian workers in the tourism,
hospitality, and service sectors. However, these occupations will require semi-skilled and skilled
workers. Thus, Bangladesh needs to take the initiative to prepare migrant workers through skills
development. Kuwait has taken labourers from Bangladesh to work as labourers, drivers, house
boys, and cooks at higher rates than any other occupations. Workers were largely employed as
factory workers in Malaysia during the period of 2005 to 2009. The recent agreement to recruit
workers to work in plantations in Malaysia is described above. The recent signing of an MOU
between the governments of Bangladesh and Malaysia to send workers from Bangladesh to work
in manufacturing, construction, and the service sector is likely to enhance demand for semi-skilled
and skilled workers
2.3 Connecting workers with demand

According to existing regulations, recruiting agents in Bangladesh are required to establish regional offices. However, due to additional costs incurred in the process, they avoid establishing
such offices, which creates dependency of aspirant migrant workers on dalals for getting information on overseas employment opportunities. Recruiting agents do not maintain any official
procedures or documentation on their recruitment processes through these middlemen who are
generally rural religious or political elites who reside in small cities, towns, and villages. To some
extent they are educated and thereby are able to assist the workers with their paperwork, obtaining
passports, going for medical check-ups, among other tasks (Jureidini, 2014). The costs associated
with this process are very high. Generally, workers have to pay 300,000 Bangladesh takas (BDT)
to BDT400,000 to migrate irrespective of the country of destination. In addition to this, workers
have to pay for their passports, their medical check-ups, and any pre-departure training. Another
risk associated with this practice is that in case of some unexpected circumstances that prevent
workers from going to the destination countries, they are unable to recover the amount paid to
the dalals. Workers become subject to this practice due to their lack of awareness regarding the
lawful process of migration and required documentation. It must be mentioned that information
on the lawful migration process and necessary documents for migrants are provided at orientation
programmes held at TTCs. This type of information needs to be extensively disseminated through
community-based campaigns by local NGOs in collaboration with the Government.
In the process of migration through dalals, the names of the agencies and their heads remain in
many cases unknown to the workers. Hence, the workers are unable to contact these agencies and
the dalals also remain out of reach after the workers depart. This practice is against the stipulated
provisions under sub-clause C of article 15 in the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013.
However, only a few of the recruiting agents practice keeping detailed information on workers in
case there is a need for such information.
12
There are instances in which workers willing to go for overseas jobs visit the offices of BMET and
Ministry officials to inquire about existing overseas job opportunities because they do not know
where they can obtain such information. Workers also get information on the job opportunities
through media advertisements by the agencies and by the Bangladesh Overseas Employment and
Services Ltd. (BOESL).
Migration costs for Bangladeshi workers are very high compared to other countries (ILO, 2014b).
Table 2 shows the cost structure of migration from Bangladesh to a few countries that workers have
to bear. The Bangladesh Household Remittance Survey 2011 conducted by the IOM also showed
that average cost of migration comes to around BDT 219,395. Migrant workers who are connected to overseas demand through their migrant relatives and friends find it easier to go through
all the formalities since they are briefed by these existing workers throughout the whole process.
A large number of female workers from Bangladesh go for overseas domestic work through this
channel.
2.4 Recruitment and selection process

With the objective of enhancing control over the recruitment process of migrant workers, the Government has adopted the practice of enlisting workers through the BMET database for Malaysia
and other destination countries. Private recruiting agents and BOESL are currently required to
select workers from the BMET database. Figure 2 shows the official process of selecting workers
by recruiting agents. In case they cannot find workers as per their demand, advertisements can
be placed in newspapers. However, this has to be done with prior approval from the BMET after
outlining the reasons for being unable to select workers from the database. According to the stakeholders from the recruitment agencies, there are certain constraints with the BMET database.8
Details of migrant workers willing to go to Malaysia and other destination countries are registered
through 64 DEMOs, including their occupations. Practical experience of selecting workers from
the database, however, reveals that the workers do not always possess the expertise they mention
during registration due to a lack of understanding about the process. Prospective workers can enter
up to seven occupations in which they are experts when they register themselves in the database.
This excessive number has made the whole process ineffective since a workers actual expertise
is sometimes not revealed. Another reason for the ineffectiveness of this system is that workers
usually rely on other community members to register them in the database. These helpers often
possess few computer skills and also are not aware of the applicants skills, sometimes even writing occupations according to their own will. Stakeholders from the private sector also opined that
workers selected from the database do not always respond to the demand of the recruiting agents
when they are contacted. From the point of view of government officials, recruiting agents actually
avoid selecting workers from the database as these workers do not agree to pay their required fees.
As per sub-clause C of article 19 in chapter 4 of the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013.
13
Table 2: Cost structure of migration in Bangladesh

Approximate cost (in BDT) of recruitment and migration through illegal intermediary channels by destination country
Destination country
Cost range* of migration

(as of June 2013)
Excess cost**
350 000
266 000
Saudi Arabia
650 000 750 000
566 000 666 000
Lebanon
550 000 600 000
466 000 516 000
Oman
220 000 250 000
136 000 166 000
Libya
250 000 320 000
166 000 236 000
Malaysia
250 000 300 000
166 000 216 000
Qatar
* Cost is subject to skill requirement, nature of job, salary, and other benefits
**Considering the maximum cost ceiling (BDT84,000) fixed by the Government
Source: Key informant interview with an illegal sub-agent conducted for research on the cost of migration
Source: ILO, 2014b
Worker interviews and assessments take place at the agencies in the presence of representatives
from the overseas companies with whom the local recruiting agents made contacts for sending
workers. In these cases, representatives from foreign companies sometimes hold oral interviews
and in certain cases they resort to skills testing of the workers. In case a worker does not meet
the requirements of the overseas company, they are rejected, as shown in figure 2. This process is
troublesome for the rejected workers as they have to bear the cost of traveling from their home to
the city areas where the agencies are located. Workers who possess some skills and are selected are
then required to upgrade their skills at the recruitment agency training centres.
Figure 2: Selection and recruitment of migrant workers by recruiting agents
Data of selected
workers (500
profiles given to
recruitment agent
Inform the selected

workers (via sms/phone call)
Source: BMET.
Database
Supplied
1,500 profiles (1:3)
Skills test
DEMO
&
TTC
Three members Local Skills

Test Board (STB)
SMS for TTC enrollment
Selection
of workers
Qualified
BMET
workers
selection
cell
1,000 candidates
back to database
Recruitment
agent
Trade wise
(1:3)
Disqualified
Recruiting agency
requests candidates
(e.g. 500 profiles)
14
It must be mentioned here that the training provided by the trainers hired at the agencies are mostly
diploma engineers who do not have practical work experience. Some agencies also hire returning migrant workers as trainers who are acquainted to the work environments in the foreign countries and
are familiar with their technology. There are also cases where private agencies select workers according to their own selection process without the presence of foreign companies representatives. These
workers are sent abroad without receiving any training in the occupation in which they are intended
to work. In these cases the workers are paid less than what they were promised by their agents.
2.5 Malpractice in the recruitment system

Recruiting agents do not maintain any documentation concerning the involvement of dalals in the
recruitment process, as mentioned in section 2.3. Thus, in cases of malpractice committed by agents
during the selection and recruitment process, the dalals often act as a protective shield and save
agents from facing law enforcing agencies. In the process of matching occupations and workers skills
with foreign demand, information regarding workers skills is sometimes misrepresented to the employers in the destination countries by some private agencies and their subagents. On the other hand,
migrant workers are often promised overseas employment in certain occupations at certain wages
which are not met due to the fraudulent practices of the dalals and private agencies. Because they do
not get their expected job and salary (as promised by dalals or agencies) during their employment
abroad, workers resort to strikes or escape from their existing employers in search of other opportunities. This leads to harassment by law enforcement agencies in the destination countries. Female
workers who escape become subject to fraudulent practices in the destination countries and become
victims of physical abuse or are forced into prostitution. Some workers leave their jobs and return
back home early. The employers refuse to pay for their airfares and the agencies through which the
workers migrate also refuse to repay the placement fees. This adds to the already high cost of migration. Migrant workers resort to irregular migration for getting overseas jobs in order to avoid the high
costs involved in the migration process. Many incidences of irregular migration attempts have taken
place, including to Malaysia, Europe, among other destinations. Cheating, extortion, and death are
outcomes of these illegal practices that have been reported in the media.
According to the Emigration Ordinance 1982 and the recently enacted Overseas Employment
and Migrants Act 2013, migration fees are to be charged by the recruiting agents according to the
limits prescribed by the Government. However, in the process of establishing linkages between
the foreign employers and the job-seeking workers, some recruiting agents conduct serious malpractices in the form of charging high fees from the workers, not providing the promised jobs and
wages to the workers, giving wrong information to the employers regarding the workers skills,
among other things (ILO, 2014b). Another practice among recruiting agents is to collect demand
from foreign companies through visa trading and also to collect demand letters through their
own agents in the destination countries in exchange for commission.9 The agents pay large premiums for securing job orders from foreign companies in the destination markets that range from
BDT120,000 to BDT200,000 (The Financial Express, 2013). According to a BOESL official,
this is the reason why foreign companies prefer to recruit through the private recruiting agents in
Bangladesh and prevents them from contacting BOESL. This occurs despite low costs associated
This process involves paying foreign companies for visas of workers which they are supposed to provide workers free of charge.
15
with the migration process through BOESL. The malpractices among recruiting agents expose the
migrant workers to a high degree of vulnerability. This situation calls for effective monitoring and
stringent action against non-compliant agents.
2.6 Female migrant workers

There is demand for female workers from Bangladesh in the GCC countries and Malaysia mainly
for domestic work. The number of female migrant workers has been increasing over the years
showing a rise from 2,189 in 1991 to 56,400 in 2013 (see figure 3). The increase has occurred
due to positive changes in the social attitudes towards womens migration for overseas jobs and
the withdrawal of time-bound work permits by Bangladesh (ILO, 2014d). Demand for female
migrant workers to the GCC countries for housekeeping jobs has been increasing as workers from
the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia are being replaced by Bangladeshi workers. The reduction of workers from these source countries is due to improvements in labour market conditions
in the source countries and government policies discouraging overseas employment (ILO, 2014a).
As mentioned before, female workers from Bangladesh have recently started migrating to Hong
Kong, Malaysia, and other countries.
Female workers go for overseas jobs to earn higher salaries than they can get in Bangladesh. Some
women who are divorced or are subject to mental and physical abuse from their husbands tend
to leave home even if they have to leave their children behind. There are also cases where women
with previous work experience in the garment industry went for overseas jobs influenced by dalals.
Women workers in Bangladesh, like their male counterparts, often go for overseas jobs through
recruiting agents and their middle men. There are instances where they are cheated by middle men
and become subject to harassment, abuse, and violence. Such a case of a female migrant is provided in box 1. Female domestic workers in the GCC countries are subject to abuse but are unable
to take actions against their abusers since they lack of knowledge on the institutional procedure
through which they can file complaints.
Figure 3: Total Employment of female workers
Number of female workers
employed
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
199119931995199719992001200320052007200920112013
Year
Total Employment of female workers
Source: BMET Database. Available at: http://www.bmet.gov.bd/BMET/viewStatReport.action?reportnumber=17. [21 July 2014].
16
Box 1: Female worker subject to malpractices of the recruitment system

Ms Hena Akhter, age 35, worked in a garment factory for about 25 years. She went for a housekeeping job
to Dubai through a dalal from her village to whom she paid BDT60,000. In addition to this fee she had to
pay for her passport, visa, and training. Although promised overseas work in tailoring, Ms Hena later found
that she was sent for a housekeeping job. She was not provided with any contact in Dubai and was unable to
contact her dalal, she had to wait at the airport for a whole day without any money or food. She was picked up
at dawn and taken to an office which she called maktab where she was kept locked in a room with little food
which, according to her, was rotten. She had problems in communicating with the employers. After becoming
severely homesick, she was sent to the agency by her employer. Ms Hena was later sent to Oman through a
contact between two overseas agencies. She was accompanied by five other female workers from other countries
during the night-long journey by road to Oman where she was ultimately recruited for domestic work. She
came home for vacation, but her husband refused to let her return. Faced with hardships and constant abuse
by her husband, Ms Hena prefers to re-migrate if she can financially manage to do so.
Source: Interview of a female worker.
Table 3: Number of female migrant workers to select destination countries

Country
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Kuwait
Qatar
Malaysia
Total Employment
all destinations
Yearly
increase (%)
1991
29
417
416
926
2 189
1992
21
435
311
841
1 907
-12.88
1993
39
462
307
753
1 793
-5.98
1994
47
298
409
1 032
1 995
11.27
1995
89
189
547
584
1 612
-19.20
1996
112
177
757
753
1 994
23.70
1997
132
463
942
1 762
-11.63
1998
143
410
257
939
-46.71
1999
351
366
-61.02
2000
381
454
24.04
2001
335
162
15
659
45.15
2002
827
217
18
1 216
84.52
2003
808
108
333
2 353
93.50
Year
2004
3 133
3 241
1 773
11 259
378.50
2005
6 319
3 786
930
13 570
20.53
2006
7 358
7 355
589
18 045
32.98
2007
7 341
5 181
49
354
19 094
5.81
2008
4 144
5 902
1 091
20 842
9.15
2009
386
6 095
87
22 224
6.63
2010
44
7 111
16
27 706
24.67
17
Country
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Kuwait
Qatar
Malaysia
Total Employment
all destinations
Yearly
increase (%)
2011
166
7 394
23
30 579
10.37
2012
484
6 212
19
37 304
21.99
2013
167
13 710
2 100
23
56 400
51.19
13 230
3 588
14
42 985
32 126
81 271
7 658
5 175
6 520
319 247
Year
2014 (until July)

Total
Source: BMET database. Available at: http://www.bmet.gov.bd/BMET/viewStatReport.action?reportnumber=17. [31 Aug, 2014].
Preparation
of migrant
Preparation
of
3 migrant workers
workers
Chapter
his chapter discusses migrants areas of origin and the available TVET system for migrant
workers. Gendered aspects of migration are also incorporated into this part of the report.
3.1 Historical connections of workers
There are several factors that have been observed to have implications for the migration process.
According to the opinions of recruitment agency officials, significant numbers of migrants come
from the districts of Comilla and Brahmanbaria. This is confirmed to some extent by survey data
from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (see table 4). The data show that the highest number of male migrants is from the Chittagong division under which the above mentioned districts
fall. However, the number of female migrant workers is lowest from this region. The percentage of
female migrants from Sylhet division is highest.
Empirical evidence shows that a large number of migrants from the Sylhet division have long been
expatriating to developed countries, especially to the United Kingdom.
Regarding the education levels of the migrant workforce, it has been observed that the highest
number of migrants have an educational qualification of nine years (class I-IX). Chittagong division has the highest number of migrants from this level. The literacy level is lowest in the Khulna
region. The findings thus depict a large number of male workers migrating from the Chittagong
division with educational attainment of about nine years. Table 5 shows the educational attainment of migrant workers according to their areas of origin
Table 4: Distribution of migrants by gender a division (in per cent)
Division
Total
Male
Female
National
100
97.37
2.63
Barisal
100
97.19
2.81
Chittagong
100
98.49
1.51
Dhaka
100
96.89
3.11
Khulna
100
97.91
2.09
Rajshahi
100
97.63
2.37
Rangpur
100
97.17
2.83
Sylhet
100
94.31
5.69
Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), Statistics and Information Division, Ministry of Planning, 2013.
20
Table 5: Percentage of population according by education and education level

Division
Total Illiterate
National
100
9.56
I-IX
SSC/
Equivalent
HSC/
Equivalent
61.50
16.25
7.19
Degree/Hons Masters MBBS/Eng.

2.47
0.62
2.41
Barisal
100
6.10
60.27
19.35
9.66
4.08
0.14
0.40
Chittagong
100
7.17
64.00
15.60
6.40
3.12
0.58
3.13
Dhaka
100
10.58
60.82
16.51
6.45
1.97
0.53
3.14
Khulna
100
12.91
56.79
17.35
9.46
1.66
0.31
1.52
Rajshahi
100
12.32
59.27
16.91
7.61
1.58
0.56
1.75
Rangpur
100
10.72
60.11
19.24
7.20
1.98
0.62
0.14
Sylhet
100
8.83
64.70
11.89
8.60
3.29
2.02
0.67
Source: BBS & Statistics and Information Division, Ministry of Planning, 2013.
3.2 TVET system for migrant workers

Technical and vocational education programmes have been initiated in Bangladesh in both the
public and private sectors. These programmes have been adopted to produce a skilled workforce
that is competitive in both the national and international labour markets. Government initiatives
in skills development are reflected in the adoption of the National Skills Development Policy
(NSDP), 2011, and the establishment of the National Skills Development Council (NSDC),
which is the highest body in dealing with skills development programmes. The National Training
and Vocational Qualification Framework (NTVQF) was initiated to provide a national benchmark for the achievement of qualifications (NSDP, 2011). Winning international recognition of
national certificates is another objective of introducing the NTVQF. The National Skills Quality Assurance System (NSQAS) was introduced in the NSDP to ensure standardized training
and develop competencies and qualifications that are nationally recognized. Accreditation of the
training and assessment programmes is another objective of introducing NSQAS. Effective implementation of both NTVQF and NSQAS are required for developing high quality training that is
nationally recognized and internationally credible. Stakeholders consultations during this study
reveal that the NSDC needs to ensure successful completion of its functions in coordinating skills
development programmes. Competency based trainings (CBT) in various occupations need to be
started under the various public and private institutions that would provide workers certifications
under NTVQF.10 However, current constraints mean that training centres are unable to provide
CBT to workers for various occupations, which results in mismatch between the output from the
TVET system and demand for industrial skills. Vast restructuring of existing skills development
programmes is required so that relevant and standardized trainings can be provided to the workers.
Due to the demand of GCC countries for unskilled workers from South Asia in recent years,
skilling the migrant work force has not been given much emphasis in Bangladesh. However, as mentioned in section 2.2, recent demand for semi-skilled and skilled workers has increased, which is reflected in the interest of the Malaysian Government to attract workers from
In order to introduce demand-driven training and development of partnerships between the industrial sector and training organizations,
the NSDP 2011 has introduced a competency based training and assessment system.
10
Chapter 3: Preparation of migrant workers
21
Bangladesh for construction, manufacturing, and the service sector (The Daily Star, 2014). However,
responsiveness to changing demand is not reflected in the training programmes, though pre-departure orientation training courses for some selected destination countries have been able to incorporate the demand of foreign companies into their training modules. The orientation trainings result
from specific instructions from certain destination countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Malaysia,
to provide these trainings to migrant workers. The middlemen or dalals are using this issue to
their advantage by pressuring aspirant migrant workers to attend these trainings and then taking
additional money from the migrant workers. Migrant workers are generally unwilling to obtain
any kind of trade-based training, as they prefer to go for overseas jobs in the shortest amount of
time possible. Private recruiting agencies that do not have their own training centres send workers for pre-departure trainings at TTCs under BMET or to private training centres. In the case of
occupation-based trainings, the private agents do not emphasize this type of training since practical experience is required by the foreign employers rather than certifications.
3.2.1 Technical Training Centres under BMET

The BMET provides skills development training in 45 trades in 38 Technical Training Centres
(TTCs). The annual capacity of these centres is about 65,000 individuals. Trainings provided at the
TTCs include four-year diploma courses in engineering, two-year certificate courses in marine trades,
two-year senior secondary certificate (SSC) vocational courses and one-year skill certificate courses.
Certificates for these courses are provided by the Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB).
The BMET certifies some modular courses with durations of seven days to six months. Orientation trainings are provided at these TTCs, including programmes for Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Hong
Kong, Republic of Korea, and others. The number of trainees passing out of training programmes at
the centres has increased over the last few years (see figure 4). This is due to the increase in the number of trainees for orientation courses. Annex III provides the number of trainees who passed TTC
programmes under each training courses. BMET data shows that 47 per cent of the total trainees in
all TTCs under BMET have obtained training in housekeeping courses during the year 2013. This is
also observed in the available data from the TTCs under BMET in the Dhaka district.
Figure 4: Number of trainees who passed training courses in institutions under BMET
Number of passed trainees
100,000
90 945
90,000
74 596
80,000
65 569
70,000
59 456
60,000
50,000
40,000
47 140
42 000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Number of passed trainees
Source: BMET, 2013.
22
Among the total trainees at the Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Centre (BKTTC) in 2012
and 2013, 60 per cent and 66 per cent of the total trainees, respectively, passed the 21-day housekeeping course. In case of one-year trade-based courses, the pass rates were 0.54 per cent and 0.26
per cent in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Participation in three-day orientation training for Saudi
Arabia during these years were 23 per cent and 22 per cent of the total number of trainees in 2012
and 2013, respectively, which was higher compared to the three-month and six-month tradebased courses. The same scenario prevails in the Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Technical Centre for
women where 93 per cent of total female trainees were admitted to and passed the housekeeping
course. Other short-term orientation trainings were also provided for Republic of Korea and Hong
Kong. Emphasis is given by the MEWOE and BMET on module development for the orientation courses. Foreign delegates from the demand side provide consultations for the short-term
orientation trainings. The inclusion of the CoDs required components into the training modules
contributes to capacity building among the workers, giving them information to cope with the
new environment in the destination countries. However, regarding the trade-based courses, little
attention is currently being paid to developing quality relevant trainings for migrant workers,
which requires greater financial and human resource investment in this area.
3.2.1.1 Curriculum development for training
It is a common practice for government officials from Bangladesh to periodically visit foreign
countries to explore expansion into new markets for migrant workers. Despite this practice, gaps
prevail in identifying occupation-based skills and competencies required by the destination countries. The lack of relevance of the training curricula to the international market also leads to mismatch of the skills of migrant workers. This is the reason why migrants skills are not recognized
in the international market and they are paid lower wages compared to migrants from other South
Asian countries. This scenario calls for investing in developing a relevant trade-based training curriculum for Bangladeshi migrant workers. It was observed during the study that efforts towards
curriculum design and training delivery address domestic industry requirements with little attention paid to the needs of migrant workers. Though it was mentioned by the BMET and TTC officials that they are incorporating the needs of destination countries, there currently is no specific
mechanism for collecting information on skill demand in CoDs or disseminating this information
to TTCs and private training institutions.
Registering institutions providing TVET, renewing the registrations of these organizations, accrediting courses, monitoring the quality of trainings conducted by these institutions, and conducting
examinations are the responsibilities of BTEB and the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE).
BTEB is responsible for curriculum development for some of the trade-based training courses and
periodic reviews of the curriculum are done through consultations with representatives from the
BMET, academics, and domestic industry representatives. During stakeholders interviews for this
study, a number of prevailing discrepancies were identified regarding the syllabus and course structure of the higher secondary certificate (HSC) vocational course prepared by BTEB. According to
some stakeholders, too few syllabi have been developed by the BTEB for technical courses, which
negatively affects the building up of a technical knowledge-based workforce. Questions have also
been raised on the insufficient emphasis on vocational courses at the HSC level, which is an important step towards the nationwide skills development process. Also, BTEB has been unable to
23
incorporate skills demand of destination countries where Bangladeshi workers migrate. To date, no
survey on foreign demand has been conducted by BTEB.
There is a dedicated wing and assigned officers at DTE for monitoring the academic, financial,
and technical aspects of TVET. However, inconsistencies in the TVET curricula and management
in the private training institutions reveal that monitoring has not been effective. There currently
are deficiencies in available human resources and equipment for conducting TVET programmes,
especially in the private institutions.
3.2.1.2 Institutional performance of TTCs
BMET monitors the TTCs regarding the quality of training and utilization of funding provided
by the Government for the training programmes. In regards to governance, there prevails a lack of
coordination in terms of resource utilization and management. Funding for the institutions is not
distributed in a timely manner, which leads to underutilization of the funds and inefficiencies in
the functional processes of the TTCs. Funding for the TTCs from BMET is also not adequate to
upgrade technology at the institutions and salaries for the officials. Honorariums paid to trainers
are very low, which creates obstacles in recruiting qualified and competent trainers at the TTCs.
Another issue of concern is that the average number of teachers in these institutions is very low in
all public and private training institutions. According to a survey conducted by NSDC and BTEB
on 539 training institutions, it was observed that there are only 3.6 teachers per trade.11
Principals of the TTCs are not given any autonomy in making changes to the designs of the training curricula or recruiting trainers for the institutions, even though they constantly deal with the
workers and are more aware of the requirements needed for workers skills development. Regarding
regular periodic assessments of the trainers, it is not done sufficiently to promote their competency
levels, which is one of the major obstacles in implementing CBT at the training institutions.
One of the reasons for the prevailing demand-supply mismatch is the lack of practical skills and
industrial work experience among the trainers (NSDC and BTEB, 2014). Measures are required
for regular training of the trainers, preferably through providing them orientation trainings at
the industry level for practical experience in handling equipment. Trainers should be sent to the
export-oriented industries that use updated technology in production, allowing them to acquire
updated technological knowledge. Passing this knowledge to the trainees will also facilitate the
migrant workers. In this regard, it may be mentioned that the lack of national-level assessors and
trainers is an impediment to the functioning of the Industry Skills Councils (ISCs).12 Developing
assessors and obtaining international accreditation of their trainings are required for restructuring
the training programmes to be relevant for developing productivity and ensuring employability of
migrant workers in the destination countries.
11
12
The study was commissioned jointly by NSDC and BTEB for identifying some selected features of the public and private training institutions
to explore the current situation of the TVET system. These institutions were selected by taking into account of their distribution by division,
authority through which these institutions are managed, their level of certification, and trades offered by these institutions. Detailed data on
235,243 skills of 1,899 trades were collected from the selected institutions (NSDC and BTEB, 2014).
ISCs have been established in ten sectors under the Corporation Act. These sectors include transport equipment, agro food, information
technology, leather and leather goods, construction, readymade garments (RMG), informal economy, light engineering, tourism and
hospitality and furniture (Ministry of Education, BTEB, and DTE, 2014). Questions remain regarding the efficiency of the ISCs as there is
a lack of assessors and trainers for these ISCs.
24
3.2.1.3 Employment of TTC graduates

The TTCs under BMET do not keep records of the number of workers who go for overseas jobs
after the completion of training despite having job placement cells for keeping such records. There
is also a lack of knowledge and awareness among workers who go overseas that they should inform
their training providers about their whereabouts. An initiative is required for such recordkeeping
measures. TTC graduates should be motivated to provide information on their foreign job placements to these institutions, which will provide input to the TTCs in developing their future skills
development programmes for migrant workers.
3.2.1.4 Training for female workers
Despite reforms in the TVET system to ensure access and equity to the entire unskilled labour
force, the system has been unable to motivate and encourage the participation of female workers
in training programmes. Overall participation of women in general TVET programmes is very
low. Approximately 24 per cent of total trainees comprise of women workers. A National Strategy
for Promotion of Gender Equality in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
2012 was developed by NSDC in collaboration with the ILO TVET Reform Project. The major
objectives under this strategy include achieving 40 per cent female enrolment by 2020 in TVET
programmes, eliminating negative perceptions of obtaining training and employment by women,
and establishing a gender-responsive environment. Female enrolment at TTCs of BMET reveals
greater involvement of female workers in training programmes for skills development (see table 6).
25
Table 6: Number of trainers and enrolment of women workers in training institutions in 2012
Teachers
Type of Institute
Polytechnic
institute
Management
No. of
Institutes
Public
Students
Total
Female
% female
Total
46
1 481
172
11.61
88 302
Female % female
10 723
12.14
Private
172
2 971
488
16.43
48 660
4 051
8.33
Total
218
4 452
660
14.82
136 962
14 774
10.79
Public
64
1 132
119
10.51
36 112
4 860
13.46
Private
103
1 681
340
20.23
28 124
9 350
33.25
Total
167
2 813
459
16.32
64 236
14 210
22.12
Glass & ceramic

institute
Public
21
19.05
1 018
62
6.09
Total
21
19.05
1 018
62
6.09
Graphic arts
institute
Public
14
28.57
682
48
7.04
Total
14
28.57
682
48
7.04
Public
35
14.29
822
30
3.65
Technical school &

college
Survey institute
Technical training
centre
Textile institute
Textile vocational
Agriculture training
institute
Marine technology
SSC Voc.
(independent)
HSC Voc./B.
Management
(independent)
Total (independent
technical
education)
SSC (Voc)
Private
19
419
34
8.11
Total
54
9.26
1 241
64
5.16
Public
38
1 120
180
16.07
20 294
6 781
33.41
Private
43
172
32
18.6
5 666
1 899
33.52
Total
81
1 292
212
16.41
25 960
8 680
33.44
Public
10
186
26
13.98
3 572
283
7.92
Private
23
327
57
17.43
6 437
496
7.71
Total
33
513
83
16.18
10 009
779
7.78
Public
40
262
45
17.18
4 245
1 075
25.32
Private
10
78
16
20.51
1 265
235
18.58
Total
50
340
61
17.94
5 510
1 310
23.77
Public
13
142
32
22.54
10 638
3 206
30.14
Private
96
811
150
18.5
18 252
3 716
20.36
Total
109
953
182
19.1
28 890
6 922
23.96
Public
50
915
105
11.48
Total
50
915
105
11.48
Public
11
267
37
13.86
2 962
497
16.78
Private
158
1 709
362
21.18
21 464
6 285
29.28
Total
169
1 976
399
20.19
24 426
6 782
27.77
Public
10
144
27
18.75
3116
166
5.33
Private
566
5 151
1 117
21.69
102 187
36 116
35.34
Total
576
5 295
1 144
21.61
105 303
36 282
34.45
Public
237
4 854
655
13.49
172 678
27 836
16.12
Private
1 173
12 919
2 562
19.83
232 474
62 182
26.75
Total
1 410
17 773
3 217
18.1
405 152
90 018
22.22
Private
1 254
6 216
1 446
23.26
114 227
40 372
35.34
Total
1 254
6 216
1 446
23.26
114 227
40 372
35.34
26
Teachers
Type of Institute
HSC Voc/B.
Management
(attached)
Total technical
education
Total
Female
Students
Management
No. of
Institutes
% female
Total
Female % female
Public
12.5
746
443
59.38
Private
655
2 325
478
20.56
88 051
34 641
39.34
Total
663
2 333
479
20.53
88 797
35 084
39.51
Public
245
4 862
656
13.49
173 424
28 279
16.31
Private
3 082
21 460
4 486
20.9
434 752
137
195
31.56
Total
3 327
26 322
5 142
19.53
608 176
165
474
27.21
Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS). Available at: http://banbeis.gov.bd/data/index.php?option=com_content&vie
w=article&id=808:table-75-number-of-institution-teacher-and-enrolment-by-type-management-and-sex-2012&catid=126:technical-and-vocational-education2011&Itemid=218 [19 July 2014].
Stakeholder consultations on the training of female migrant workers reveal that these workers
mostly adopt training for housekeeping jobs. Recently, female workers have started going overseas
for jobs in the garment sector. Workers opined that despite having prior experience in housekeeping jobs, dalals take them to the TTCs and charge them money to train in housekeeping again.
Recently, some female workers have obtained garment-related training, although some workers
still resort to their prior work experience in the garment industry in Bangladesh.
One of the major problems that female workers face in getting training at TTCs is finding appropriate accommodation during the training programme. It is extremely difficult for female workers
to find adequate accommodation when they go for trainings to TTCs without accommodation
facilities. Even if some TTCs have accommodation facilities, these are not secure and provide low
quality food and accommodation to the workers.
3.2.2 NGOs and private training institutions

There are several private institutions and NGOs that provide training to workers. Among these institutions are Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme (OKUP), Thangamara Mohila Shobuj Shongho (TMSS), Ahsania Mission Syed Sadat Ali Vocational Training Institute, Montage Training,
among others. Several private recruitment agencies also provide trainings to the migrant workers.
OKUP provides orientation trainings to female workers for migrating to the Middle East countries. These are short training courses that provide life skill and language skill training according to
their own curriculum. TMSS provides trade-based trainings, but very few workers go for overseas
jobs after being trained by this institution. Among the migrant workers who receive training here,
the majority are trained in gas welding. These workers are offered non-formal and low standard
training courses of short duration (NSDC and BTEB, 2014). As revealed from stakeholders in the
private sector, migrant workers who train it these private institutions are hired for low-grade jobs
and are paid less in foreign countries than migrants from other countries like India and Nepal.
Findings from the NSDC and BTEB survey reveal that the performance of private training institutions is low compared to that of public institutions and NGOs. This is a concern considering that
these institutions provide 96 per cent of the training to workers.
27
The private training institutions are incapable of adopting CBT as introduced by the National
Skills Development Policy, 2011, due to a lack of proper trainers and infrastructure. Delivering
quality TVET depends on competent teachers who are proficient in terms of theoretical, technical,
and practical knowledge. However, the trainers in these private institutions are mainly diploma
degree holders in engineering who lack relevant practical work experience. The recruiting agents
might be better service providers since they provide trainings based on the demand of foreign
employers. Some agencies have established training centres with relatively higher investment than
others. However, there are also gaps in these short-term training programmes which is reflected in
the low wages paid to Bangladeshi workers despite being promised higher pay by the agencies. A
negative aspect of these training providers is despite the fact that some of the agencies possess financial capacity, they do not conduct any research or analysis on existing international demand. As
such, they are unaware of skill demand among migrant workers in the face of constant industrial
technological restructuring taking place in the international markets. This results in inefficiencies
in addressing long-term skills development of workers. Such initiatives on the part of these institutions would have a significant impact on the training structure for migrant workers. However, this
will only be possible if inputs from research initiatives are disseminated to the public and private
training centres and incorporated into their training modules.
Government
Role4ofRole
theof the
Government
in promoting migration
in promoting migration
T
Chapter
his chapter provides a brief review of the various rules and policies adopted by the Government of Bangladesh for governing migration. The chapter also includes discussions on
various aspects of skills development policy adopted by the Government, as well as government initiatives for enhancing migration to foreign countries through adopting bilateral negotiations. Implementation status of the various rules and policies are revealed through discussions on
various aspects of migration covered in chapters 2 and 3.
4.1 Government policies and planning

The Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment has initiated a policy reform
process to replace the Overseas Employment Policy 2006. The objective of the new policy is to
elaborate the policy context and directives taking into account current challenges and opportunities for Bangladesh and its workers in the international labour market. The draft policy was
developed to provide a comprehensive labour migration framework with a particular focus on the
protection of migrant workers. The proposed new policy also brings out the need for better synergies between in-demand skills in the international labour market, national skills training services,
promotion of women workers employment, issues of access to skills training in diverse trades,
and employment opportunities. In order to ensure inclusive and relevant policy formulation, the
policy-making process included research, a number of consultations with stakeholders (workers,
recruitment agents, academic experts, non-government organizations, and employers and workers organizations), inter-ministerial meetings, and feedback from the ministries. The new policy
has been pending submission to the Cabinet of the Government of Bangladesh since the latter
part of 2013. The proposed policy defines a policy framework based on key principles that emphasize the Governments commitment to (1) providing decent work for all; (2) recognize individual
workers right to freely choose employment at home or abroad; (3) promote overseas employment
with dignity and security; and (4) ensure fundamental equality of women and men in the sphere
of labour migration. It includes:
employment promotion and safe migration;
protection of Bangladeshi migrant workers and their families;
benefits and welfare services for migrant workers;
migration of women workers;
linking migration and development; and
governance of labour migration.
30
The proposed policy emphasizes the need to look at overseas employment as a necessary basis for
policy-making, gives a timeframe for planning implementation, postulates formation of a high
policy-level national steering committee, and creates an inclusive Labour Migration Forum to
involve stakeholders in labour migration governance. Finally, it provides roles and responsibilities
to 14 ministries and divisions based on their mandates.
Notwithstanding the rights-based nature and modern outlook of the proposed policy, delays in
its adoption are also a delay in positive impacts on the lives of migrant workers and their families.
Labour migration from Bangladesh is governed by the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act
2013. The Act replaces the Emigration Ordinance, 1982. The major objective of this regulation
is to provide a structural framework for the migration process taking place from Bangladesh.
It includes provisions on the organizational structure relating to the labour migration process,
an equity approach principle in the procedure that is to be followed, details on the licensing of
recruitment agencies to be authorized for conducting labour migration operations, among other
provisions. The Act aims to provide an overall legal regime for the governance of labour migration
from Bangladesh. The Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013, requires the Government to
maintain an electronic database of job-seekers. In order to curtail malpractices by the recruitment
agents, the Act demands that the recruitment agents should first attempt to find suitable applicants
from those who are already registered in the job-seekers database.
The Emigration Ordinance, 1982, was implemented through the following Rules:
Emigration Rules, 2002;
Recruiting Agents License and Conduct Rules, 2002; and
Wage Earners Welfare Fund Rules, 2002.
A technical review of the Rules mentioned above was conducted. The Rules are currently under
revision with the aim to help better implement the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013,
including promoting better matching between jobs and skills.
There are also certain other Rules and Regulations that have direct or indirect impacts on the education and skills of Bangladeshi workers migrating for employment. These include:
Technical Education Act, 1967;
Apprenticeship Rules, 1967;
Technical Education Regulation, 1976;
Bangladesh Technical Education Institute Recognition & Renewal Regulation, 1996;
Bangladesh Technical Education Institute Management Committee Regulation, 1996;
Bangladesh Private Technical Education (Teacher & Employees) Service Regulation, 1996; and
Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 (Act No. 42 of 2006).
The most recent policy formulated with an aim to incorporate all aspects of skills development
is the National Skills Development Policy, 2011. Currently, the BTEB Act is being reframed to
promote skills upgrading to match the local industrial and global labour market demands.
Chapter 4: Role of the Government in promoting migration
31
4.2 Delivering skills training

The Government of Bangladesh, through its various ministries and affiliated organizations, has
tried to establish a mechanism to address the demand-supply gap in the Bangladesh workforce.
One of the major initiatives in this respect is the development of the National Skills Development
Policy, 2011. Various aspects in the policy, including the introduction of NTVQF, CBT, a Bangladesh skills quality assurance system, and the development of the ISC, are noteworthy measures
for skills development. If implemented efficiently, the countrys labour market is likely to become
competitive in domestic and international domains.
The Ministry of Education is responsible for the overall policy-level decision-making for all types
of education, including technical and vocational education. In addition to this, 18 ministries are
involved as supporting institutions for human resource development. These Ministries include the
Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Ministry of Labour and Employment,
Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
4.2.1 National Technical & Vocational Qualification Framework (NTVQF)

Migrant workers from Bangladesh do not receive recognition in the international market as they do not
possess competitive levels of skills. In order to ensure the recognition of local skills qualifications of Bangladeshi workers in both the domestic and international labour markets, NTVQF was introduced in NSDP
2011, as mentioned above. If implemented effectively, the NTVQF is expected to provide a benchmark
for international recognition of Bangladeshi workers locally acquired skills and knowledge (see table 7).
Table 7: Skills levels under NTVQF
NTVQF
Level
Pre-Vocation Education
Vocational Education
NTVQF 6
Technical Education
Job Classification
Diploma in
engineering or
equivalent
Middle level manager/

sub assistant engr./among
others
NTVQF 5
National Skill
Certificate 5
(NSC 5)
Highly skilled worker /

supervisor
NTVQF 4
National Skill
Certificate 4
(NSC 4)
Skilled worker
NTVQF 3
National Skill
Certificate 3
(NSC 3)
Semi-skilled worker
NTVQF 2
National Skill
Certificate 2
(NSC 2)
Basic-skilled worker
NTVQF 1
National Skill
Certificate 1
(NSC 1)
Basic worker
Pre-Voc 2
National Pre-vocation
Certificate 2
NPVC 2
Pre-vocational trainee
Pre-Voc 1
National Pre-vocation
Certificate 1
NPVC 1
Pre-vocational trainee
Source: National Skills Development Policy, 2011.
32
As has been mentioned in section 3.2, certification of workers under NTVQF can be done if
CBT is implemented to provide training to workers. However, efficient levels of training for each
competency standard require the development of standard curricula and competent trainers with
updated technological knowledge. In this regard, BTEB plays a major role in developing curricula which is fully updated according to industry-based and trade-based skill requirements. Also,
competency based training cannot be successfully executed unless certified trainers or assessors are
deployed at the assessment centres established in the 24 districts of Bangladesh.13 Compared to
the approximate demand for 240 assessors to work in the assessment centres, only 98 trainers have
been certified and are deployed by the BTEB at various assessment centres as per requirement.
Despite having developed competency standards for 34 occupations, due to prevailing barriers in
certifying and recruiting trainers and assessors, only ten standards have been implemented to date.
This scenario reveals that it will take time to implement training and certification standards under
the NTVQF at the national level. This means that recognition at the international level is still a
long way off. Table 8 shows the eight pilot registered training organizations (RTOs) now providing
training on the standardized occupations by BTEB.
Table 8: Pilot Programmes at RTOs under NTVQF
Institutes as RTOs
Programmes
National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute, Dhaka
Baking, level 2
Dhaka Polytechnic Institute
1. Food processing and quality control, level 1 and 2

2. Food packaging, level 2
Graphic Arts Institute, Dhaka
Graphics design, level 1 and 2
Feni Computer Institute, Feni
1. IT support, level 1 and 2

2. Web design, level 2
Centre of Excellence for Leather (COEL), Gazipur
1. Machine operator-leather goods, level 1 and 2

2. Machine maintenance, level 1 and 2
3. Supervision, level 5
Technical Training Centre (TTC), Chittagong
1. Electrical installation and maintenance, level 1 and 2

2. Fitter, level 1 and 2
3. Welding, level 1 and 2
Technical School and College, Barisal
Welding, level 1 and 2
Western Marine Institute, Chittagong
Welding, level 1 and 2
Source: BTEB, Annual Report 2012-13.
Competency based curricula are developed by BTEB at the initial stage. In the process of developing the curricula, job market surveys in the industries (local companies) are executed through questionnaires. However,
to date no initiative has been taken to conduct research and incorporate requirements of the international
market into the development of training curricula, which would accelerate the international accreditation of
skills trainings provided to workers in Bangladesh.
4.2.2 Recognition of prior learning (RPL) system

NSDP 2011 introduces an RPL system that recognizes prior learning of workers. In order to ensure the
recognition of Bangladeshi workers certifications in the international market, it is necessary that they obtain
certificates from recognized bodies at the national level that also has international accreditation. Implementation of RPL is important so that workers skills are assessed given relevance to the NTVQF and CBT.
If workers are not provided training according to the NTVQF and CBT, recognition of their skills in the
Chapter 4: Role of the Government in promoting migration
33
international market cannot be obtained. Implementation of RPL is a major challenge for Bangladesh. The
majority of workers in Bangladesh get certificates from small uncertified training institutions. A significant
number of migrant workers are not certified at all. RPL is important for acknowledging workers prior certifications by recognized bodies or receiving international accreditation, thus validating workers skills in the
international market. It is necessary that workers experience and skills are certified through recognized RPL
assessment centres.
According to a BTEB official interviewed during this study, returnees who have experience working in certain jobs and workers with work experience in domestic industries can attend assessment exams at the RPL
centres and obtain BTEB certificates. However, due to a lack of assessors, the established RPL assessment
centres are unable to function properly. This prevents the recognition of prior skills of the returning migrant
workers, which is discussed in chapter 5. BTEB is currently training about 200 assessors in CBT. However,
the impact of this on training and RPL will depend on their effective employment in the training centres and
RPL centres. The World Banks Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP) has undertaken an initiative for scaling up the RPL system through which 50 persons in five occupations were tested. This type of
approach needs to be adopted on a large scale in order to develop assessors and ensuring the efficient implementation of the RPL system. Collaborative efforts between BTEB and ISCs are required in this context.
4.3 Establishing bilateral agreements with destination countries

The Government of Bangladesh continuously engages in bilateral negotiations to promote the migration of
workers to developed countries. Eleven bilateral agreements and nine MOUs have been signed by the Government of Bangladesh with various countries, including UAE, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Kuwait, Oman,
Malaysia, Maldives, Republic of Korea, and others. Regional consultative processes are also being undertaken. Delegates from various ministries and BMET are participating in high-level dialogues. Recent negotiations include a contract developed through negotiations with the Government of Qatar in early 2013 for
sending 30,000 female workers from Bangladesh for domestic work and other services. The contract was
subsequently agreed upon in April 2013. An MOU was signed with Malaysia for sending workers for manufacturing, construction, and the service sector. However, the bilateral agreements between governments have
mostly focused on the expansion of markets for migrant workers without significant focus on skills development issues. Establishing linkages between skill demand and supply of migrant workers would require
addressing skills accreditation and standardization issues in the bilateral agreements. In order to address the
prevailing mismatch between skills demand and supply, the Government of Bangladesh needs to put emphasis on negotiating with destination countries on providing joint training to migrant workers with technical
support from the destination countries. Employment contracts need to be standardized through research
and analysis under technical cooperation from international organizations working on migration related
issues. Enforcement mechanisms for effective implementation of the agreements should be strengthened.
Services
forformigrant
Services
5 migrant workers
workers
Chapter
n the process of migration, workers are provided training for specific occupations. They are
also provided with various services by the recruiting agents and embassies abroad. This chapter
discusses the various pre-departure and post-departure services and efficiencies among various
institutions in extending these support services.
5.1 Pre-departure services

Migrant workers in Bangladesh are provided with pre-departure training through public and private
institutions. According to the official migration process for overseas jobs (depicted in figure 1), workers have to adopt these trainings at their own expense. Consultations with returning workers from
Saudi Arabia reveal that during the early 2000s workers were not aware of the necessity of obtaining
training for overseas jobs and migrated to GCC countries without even knowing the language of the
destination countries. However, in recent years the trend of workers obtaining orientation training
has increased. However, the increasing participation in orientation training is to some extent due to
pressure from dalals to attend training since they can charge additional fees to take aspirant migrant
workers to training centres. In some cases, returnees willing to re-migrate are sent by their dalals to
TTCs to obtain additional training despite the fact that they already possess five to six years of overseas work experience. The only purpose of this additional training is to generate additional fees for
the dalals. In this case, prior experience and skills are not recognized even by the TTCs.
The trainings are multi-dimensional in nature depending on the occupation and duration of the
training courses. According to available statistics from the TTCs affiliated with the BMET, worker
participation in trade-based trainings is very low at the TTCs. There is a tendency among workers to
adopt short-term pre-departure orientation courses than longer trade-based training courses, which is
reflected in the BMET data. Low levels of migrant worker participation in trade-based trainings can
be attributed to various factors. First, emphasis is given by the overseas companies on practical work
experience in various trades rather than the training certificates obtained by migrant workers. Second,
workers willing to go for overseas jobs are not interested in obtaining training. These low- or semiskilled workers with low productivity are in most cases willing to migrate for overseas jobs ignoring
the wage levels or risks associated with the available jobs. For these reasons, private recruiting agents
encourage short-term orientation courses before sending workers to overseas jobs.
However, a general observation of the BMET data reveals that the pass rates of trainees in four-year
diploma courses in engineering, and two-year certificate courses in various occupations are very
low. This situation calls for increasing awareness among workers to adopt trainings in various occupations that would ensure their employability at the national and international levels in future.
36
Three-day training is provided at the Bangla-German Technical Training Centre, Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Centre (BKTCC), and Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Technical Centre for
Women. During these training courses, booklets are provided with detailed information on the
culture of the destination country, ways of remitting money, means of communication in cases of
emergency during the stay abroad, among other useful information. Information on accidental
death is also provided. Trainees are also informed about the process to obtain entry and exit passes,
as well as briefed on the law and order of the CoD.
Stakeholders claim that CoD demand is incorporated into the modules for worker orientation
training. For example, a ten-day orientation training is provided to workers for Malaysian jobs as
per the demand of the Malaysian Government, including briefs on culture, language, food, labour
law, among other things. Saudi Arabia also asked for workers to attend a three-day orientation
training that includes information on their airport formalities, immigration process, language, culture, among other things. These issues were incorporated into the training curriculum accordingly.
Boxes 2 and 3 provide brief examples of pre-departure trainings at TTCs under BMET.
Box 2: Pre-departure trainings at BKTTC
BKTTC provides several pre-departure training courses for migrant workers, including a 21-day training on housekeeping, ten-day pre-departure training for migrant workers going to Malaysia, six-day EPS pre-departure training
for migrants going to the Republic of Korea, and a three-day pre-departure orientation for workers going to Saudi
Arabia. This last three-day course will be extended to migrants departing for all developed countries in the future.
In 2013, 6,927 migrants participated in the three-day course for Saudi Arabia, 20,042 migrants attended the 21day housekeeping course, and 1,677 completed the EPS course. During the first six months of 2014, 4,304 workers
attended the three-day orientation course for Saudi Arabia, whereas 11,305 workers attended the housekeeping
training. The courses provide the workers with information on required work hours, accommodation facilities,
things to carry during the journey, immigration procedures, customs, among other things. The workers are briefed
on the minimum expected salary for labourers in Saudi Arabia, doable for workers in case of getting information on
the contract forms, and means of remitting money home. For female workers going for housekeeping jobs, they are
given briefs on safe migration processes, visa information, detailed information on the types of overseas housekeeping
work, and information on and specific instructions for HIV and women workers. Migrant works willing to go to
Malaysia are given pre-departure training modules on the country profile of Malaysia, prevailing laws and regulations, language, work placement and job descriptions, and health-related instructions for workers.
Source: BKTTC.
Box 3: Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Technical Centre for Women

The institute was established in 2001. Regular and short courses are provided to women workers to facilitate employment in both domestic and overseas jobs. The institute provides pre-departure training to women migrant workers in housekeeping. According to available statistics at the institution, 67,817 women workers attended 21-days
housekeeping courses from 2001 to 2013. According to an official interviewed at the Centre, most of the women who
come to the Centre for training are illiterate. This creates a problem in preparing them for overseas jobs. During the
course, a booklet is provided to them detailing doable and language of the destination country. However, during the
period between completing the training and their departure, they are unable to remember everything covered in the
course. Due to a lack of education, they are also unable to become acquainted with the booklet they are provided.
Source: Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Technical Centre for Women.
Chapter 5: Services for migrant workers
37
As mentioned before, workers often attend orientation and pre-departure training through private
training institutions. A positive outcome of these orientation trainings is that female workers who
come from villages learn the names and uses of various household appliances, which helps them
to conduct housekeeping activities in the destination countries. However, dissatisfaction prevails
among some of the various stakeholders concerning the duration of the courses. According to
them, the life skills and language training courses given over three to 21 days are not sufficient
for the migrant workers. In reality, workers must learn and become accustomed with the foreign
language and culture based on their actual experience abroad. During their stay overseas, migrant
workers require support from the agencies through which they migrate and their subagents.
5.2 In-country support

Migrant workers from Bangladesh occasionally may receive some support services from different
actors in the destination countries. However, institutionalised support is minimal and its inadequacy affects workers during their employment period.
5.2.1 Recruitment agent-provided support

Support provided to the migrant workers in the destination countries varies depending upon the
recruiting agencies used. As opined by stakeholders in the recruiting agencies, workers get support by the agencies subagents who reside in the destination countries. The support provided includes assistance upon arrival at the foreign country, accommodation, job placement, among other
things. In case an emergency arises for a worker, the recruitment agency in Bangladesh generally
contacts the foreign company and solves the problems through mutual understanding.
5.2.2 Support by Bangladesh embassies abroad

In case of any severe incidences, workers can approach the Bangladeshi embassies to take appropriate
measures. However, many incidences occur where workers, especially female workers, do not receive
any support from their agencies or embassies when facing abuse and harassment from their employers. One of the reasons behind the lack of support when major incidences occur is the lack of human
resource capacity at the embassies in the destination countries. Stakeholder consultations reveal that
there are not enough labour attachs at the embassies, especially in key destination countries with
relatively high levels of Bangladeshi migrant workers, such as Saudi Arabia. This deficiency results
in inefficiencies in mitigating problems faced by the workers during overseas employment in terms
of providing legal and financial assistance to the workers in need or the repatriation of the stranded
workers. There are instances where migrant workers have not received support from the embassies to
renew their passports and issue machine readable passport. Workers also complain that repeated visits
to the embassies are required and there is a lack of drinking water and toilet facilities in the embassies during the visits. In the above mentioned cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not adopted
proper measures to facilitate the migrant workers (Siddiqui, 2014).
5.2.3 Government initiative

The Government of Bangladesh has introduced a system that provides migrant workers with a
Smart Card. This card has 32 kilobytes of memory and contains details on the worker and needs
to be shown during the immigration process. The system was initiated to keep some records on
38
the migrant workers during their immigration. The worker can also keep the card, which includes
their contact details, at their disposal throughout their stay abroad. The card is also useful to the
workers families. Families keep copies of the cards information with them, which includes information on the migrant workers employer, agency, country of employment, and details of employment. Services for migrant workers are also provided by several local NGOs in areas of protecting
the workers rights, ensuring safe migration for workers, among other services.
5.3 Other services

A number of migrant workers associations have been developed for working on the protection of
rights of these workers in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Ovibashi Mohila Sramik Association (BOMSA)
is an association founded and operated by returnee women migrant workers, which has been
working with internal and external women migrants for ensuring the protection of their rights. According to BOMSA personnel, female migrants mostly face risks during employment in the GCC
countries and are unable to get help from any authority or from the Government. Private institutions like OKUP have pre-departure training and accommodation facilities for female migrant
workers. Montage Training and Certification Centre provides orientation trainings and accommodation facilities for migrant workers. These institutions however are not able to function properly
due to lack of infrastructure and financial resources. Various private institutions and NGOs are
also providing various services to the migrant workers. Among these, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) has taken various measures and adopted nationwide programmes
for migrant workers. These programmes include awareness building for migrants on safe migration
processes, skill building, advocacy at the local and national levels for ensuring gender equality at all
levels of the migration process, among others initiatives. The Government of Bangladesh has adopted various measures for facilitating migrant workers in sending their earnings to their families
which are described in the next section.
5.4 Support for sending remittances

The two regulatory instruments that govern the remittance system in Bangladesh are the Foreign
Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, and the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2002. The system
is operated and controlled by various organizations, namely the Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh
Bank, national commercial banks (NCBs), private commercial banks, and international banks.
Remittance transfer through formal channels has increased in Bangladesh through the introduction of Western Union, Money Gram, and other remittance houses. The banks have introduced
and popularized cash-to-cash and spot cash systems. A survey conducted by Bangladesh Bank
in 2010 shows that 72 per cent of the migrant workers send their money through banks. The
rest of the workers used informal channels such as hundi14 or brokers in sending money to their
families. The informal channels are often chosen by migrants due to the relatively longer time
required for transmitting their earnings through proper channels. An initiative by the Ministry of
Finance instructing the NCBs to ease and expedite the remittance process has played an effective
role in facilitating the migrants remittance transfer. Moreover, expansion of exchange houses and
the introduction of various investment instrument packages for migrant workers have facilitated
the expatriates. Various measures adopted for easing the process of sending remittances have to
Chapter 5: Services for migrant workers
39
some extent facilitated savings and investment of migrants and their families, which is discussed
in chapter 6.
Another major government initiative in this aspect is the establishment of Probashi Kalyan Bank
(Expatriates Welfare Bank) for providing loans with simple interest to migrants going abroad and
to the returnees for investment. Despite the various measures undertaken, migrants from Bangladesh still face various constraints at the local level and also in the destination countries. Regarding
the prevailing constraints in Bangladesh, one of the major problems is a lack of education among
the migrants, which renders workers incapable of conducting formal banking procedures related
to sending remittances, necessitating that they seek cooperation from bank officials in this regard.
Regarding the problems faced in destination countries, the language barrier is a major problem for
fulfilling the formalities in sending their earnings home. Female workers especially face this problem and also make mistakes in providing account details to their employers. In most cases, female
workers do not have their own bank accounts, which means that they must send remittances to
their husbands or fathers accounts. There prevails a lack of knowledge about the procedures to
send remittances, particularly among women workers. This problem has been addressed to some
extent through the orientation trainings provided to the female workers at TTCs and private institutions. In some cases migrant workers also depend on other fellow workers to send their remittance, which sometimes become subject to fraudulent practices. Table 9 reveals that bank channels
are the most frequently used in sending remittances by migrant workers.
Table 9: Forms of sending money by migrants
Living Country
Mode of sending Money

Western Union Money Gram Post office
Bank
Friends
Hundi
Known persons
Other
Saudi Arabia KSA)
5.84
0.86
0.22
68.49
8.30
11.56
3.95
0.78
UAE
6.52
2.82
0.21
70.62
8.68
8.37
2.28
0.50
Malaysia
6.22
1.52
0.29
68.80
8.23
6.25
4.16
4.51
Kuwait
5.46
1.97
0.00
75.83
6.87
7.22
2.03
0.62
Qatar
12.38
1.44
0.50
72.73
3.99
7.72
1.16
0.07
The Government provides support to migrant workers through giving them a Commercially Important Person (CIP) card. These cards help the migrants to obtain various kinds of support (e.g.
special treatment at the airport). The workers with earnings of $150,000 at minimum can apply
for these cards. The CIP is given under three categories to 25 persons each year. The three categories include the following:
highest remitter with earnings of a minimum of $150,000;
migrants using local products for their business abroad; and
migrants investing their earnings in Bangladesh.
14
Hundi is an illegal financial system involving an unconditional money order for which a client pays a sum to a broker who orders by
phone or any other means another broker to disburse the same amount to the intended beneficiary. Hundi may involve a small fee, usually
less than the remittance fee charged by the money exchange houses and banks.
Maximizing economic value

Maximizing economic value
from6returning
migrants
from returning migrants
Chapter
his chapter discusses the reintegration of returning migrant workers into the economy and
the potential benefits associated with reintegration. The chapter also includes discussions
on the benefits that labour migration brings to the Bangladesh economy in terms of
remittances and the impact of various macroeconomic factors on remittance flows..
6.1 Benefits to the labour market

Employers in local industries perceive that the current vocational education and training system
targets old and marginal trades, which have limited demand in the existing labour market. There is
substantial need for skilled workers in the economy according to existing market demand (Siddika,
2010). In order to cater to changing industry requirements, various measures have been adopted at
the public and private levels, as mentioned in the previous chapters. Challenging issues facing the
Government are to implement the various measures efficiently to upgrade the basic employability
skills and facilitate workers to gain recognition in the domestic and international markets. Developing migrant workers skills will also benefit the domestic labour market when these workers
return home and reintegrate into the economy. Efficient implementation of CBT and assessment
programmes for migrant workers skills and experience, thereby recognizing them through the
RPL system, and reintegrating the workers into the domestic market is important. Skilled returning migrants and professionals tend to gain employment in public or private institutions. Some of
these returnees who have some savings and capital start businesses of their own. There are some
organizations that provide advisory services for returning migrant workers in entrepreneurship
development, such as the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Foundation.
Accommodating and creating job opportunities for returning migrants under the current economic realities in Bangladesh is difficult even for workers who possess updated skills through their
overseas job experience. Proficient implementation of the RPL system is required to ensure recognition of their skills and in order to integrate them into the economy. Consultations with unskilled
returning workers during this study reveal that they prefer to return for overseas jobs through completing formalities, including appearing for a new visa, making new passports, obtaining trainings
as per requirements, among other tasks. These workers face various problems, including lack of
information on prevailing business trends and lack of advisory services for new job opportunities
in Bangladesh. The scenario is the same for both male and female migrant workers.
A large number of returning migrants from various Middle Eastern countries and Malaysia have
raised concerns regarding their integration into the economy. There is no systematic recordkeeping on returning migrants in Bangladesh. MEWOE has taken the initiative to develop a returnee
database. It has been observed during this study that very few private agencies maintain records on
migrants who go overseas through agencies and they are unaware of whether the workers remained
42
in the overseas jobs. The migrant workers do not inform the agencies of their return. The Refugee
and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU) has undertaken various initiatives regarding
returning migrants, including research and community level work with households of workers currently working abroad. The institution has organized national level programmes to increase awareness on the various aspects of repatriation too. Their programmes include training for remittance
utilization of the returnees and entrepreneurship. BRAC has also initiated programmes on the
socio-economic development of returning migrants. One of these initiatives includes supporting
the returned workers in starting SMEs.
6.2 Benefits to the economy

The major contribution of the migrant workers is their generated earnings or remittances. The
contribution of personal remittances to GDP has increased from 11.8 per cent in 2009 to 12.2 per
cent in 2012.15 The benefits to the economy accrued from remittances, however, depend on the
savings and investment of migrant workers families. A BBS survey reveals that the largest proportion of remittances sent during 2012-13 was saved in savings accounts. This study and various
other related literature have found that remittances sent by migrants are mostly spent on food and
housing expenses. However, some families of migrant workers save money in various forms. The
various forms through which they save their earnings are shown in table 10.
Table 10: Distribution of remittance savings by category
Category of Savings
Remittance distribution (2012-13)
Purchase of Savings Bond
5.79
Insurance
4.89
Savings Account
66.07
DPS/SDPS
7.13
Permanent Deposit (One year & above)
5.02
Cooperative Society
0.24
Friends & Others
1.07
Savings at Home
9.14
Others (clubs, local associations, among others)

Total
0.65
100.00
There are regional variations in the types of savings by migrant workers and their families (see table
11). In the Sylhet division, savings through bank accounts is the main mode of saving remittances.
Saving at home and through purchasing savings bonds are other major modes of saving.
15
The World Bank. Personal remittance here refers to the sum of personal transfers and compensation of employees. Personal transfer refers
to all types of current transfer between resident and non-resident individuals. Compensation of employees refer to income of non-resident
short-term workers. Available at: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS.
Chapter 6: Maximizing economic value from returning migrants
43
Table 11: Distribution of remittance savings by category and division, 2012-13

Savings by Category
Division
National
Barisal Chittagong
Dhaka
Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet
Purchase of Savings Bond
5.79
5.02
5.00
8.05
2.48
7.49
1.25
3.37
Insurance
4.89
6.69
7.80
4.08
2.56
1.59
6.60
2.81
66.07
55.78
63.00
69.96
67.92
55.88
55.46
79.10
Savings Account
DPS/SDPS
7.13
17.02
7.50
4.70
10.91
7.76
13.56
3.35
Permanent Deposit
(One year & above)
5.02
11.13
7.50
3.48
2.46
3.52
3.25
6.41
Cooperative Society
0.24
0.08
0.70
0.06
0.10
0.04
0.01
0.01
Friends & Others
1.07
0.29
1.40
0.25
0.42
3.96
2.32
1.12
Savings at Home
9.14
3.11
7.00
8.95
12.19
16.97
16.80
3.74
Others
0.65
0.89
0.20
0.48
0.96
2.80
0.75
0.10
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
Note: Others include clubs, local associations, among others.

Migrant workers also bring back new knowledge and skills from experience they obtain through
overseas employment. Migrant workers and their families contribute more to the economy
compared to non-migrant families in terms of modernizing agriculture through their acquired
knowledge of mechanized equipment, high quality seeds and insecticides, and modern irrigation
systems. Migrant workers families also contribute to the rejuvenation of the rural economies by
introducing cash crop production, fisheries, poultry, and other agricultural ventures. Improved
purchasing power of migrants families influences the rural marketplace (Siddiqui, 2014).
Table 12 shows the inflow of remittances from countries in the Middle East.
Table 12: Remittance flows from Middle East countries (US$ millions)
Country
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
Total
Bahrain
157.43
170.14
185.93
298.46
361.7
459.39
Kuwait
970.75
1 019.18
1 075.75
1 190.14
1 186.93
1 106.88
Oman
290.06
349.08
334.31
400.93
610.11
701.08
Qatar
343.36
360.91
319.36
335.26
286.89
257.53
Saudi Arabia
2 859.09
3 427.05
3 290.03
3 684.36
3 829.45
3 118.88
UAE
1 754.92
1 890.31
2 002.63
2 404.78
2829.40
2 684.86
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
1.25
1.46
5.20
12.91
57.65
71.96
Islamic Republic of Iran
3.28
4.49
2.32
1.16
2.59
0.40
Source: Bangladesh Bank. Available at: http://www.bangladesh-bank.org/econdata/wagermidtl.php [accessed 15 Aug 2014].
44
800,000
16,000
700,000
14,000
600,000
12,000
500,000
10,000
400,000
8,000
300,000
6,000
200,000
4,000
100,000
2,000
0
Total employment
20
14
20
12
20
10
20
08
20
06
20
04
20
02
20
00
19
98
19
96
19
94
19
92
Total remittance flow (in million US$)
Total overseas employment
Figure 5: Total overseas employment and remittance inflow
Total remittance flow (in million USD)
Source: BMET database.
There is various macroeconomic literature that focuses on factors that determine the economic
impact of migration and remittance. Some underlying factors affect the decision-making of the
migrant workers in remitting their earnings home. Straubhaar (1986) finds that wage levels and
political stability are two factors that determine whether workers remit their money home. Migrant workers skills are one of the key determinants of wage levels in this regard. In an IOM survey it was found that annual remittances per migrant worker was only $1,672 for migrants from
Bangladesh, while workers from India, China, and the Philippines remitted $4,843, $6,112, and
$4,982, respectively (CPD, 2014).
Elbadawi and Rocha (1992) found through empirical evidence that an increase in the stock of migrant workers increases remittance flows into the economy and contributes to economic growth.
This situation is revealed in the case of Bangladesh during the period of 1990 to 2008. A rise in
the total overseas employment was followed by increasing levels of remittances during that time
(see figure 5). After this period, migration, and consequently remittances, fell drastically in the following years. The reduction in remittances sent to Bangladesh during this period was the result of
the global economic crisis which led to many foreign employers to dismiss foreign workers. This
situation is also reflected in the study by Huang and Vargas-Silva (2005) in which they found that
the macroeconomic conditions of the host rather than the home country are the most important
driving forces that determines remittances.
Research work by the Bangladesh Bank found that high inflation has a positive impact on the remittance inflow to Bangladesh. This happens because high inflation reduces the purchasing power of the
migrants families and thereby induces the migrant workers to send more remittances home. Other
factors that affect remittances according to the study are exchange rate, wage rate, and regulatory
Chapter 6: Maximizing economic value from returning migrants
45
and institutional arrangements of the Government (The Financial Express, 2012). The research also
indicates that due to prevailing low wages, a decrease in the demand for migrant workers in major
destination countries has a significant impact on the remittance flows into the economy.
A decrease in the remittances resulting from a global economic shock is likely to have a negative
impact on the economy. Raihan and Sugiarto (2012) applied CGE modelling to estimate the impact of a decline in remittances on the Bangladesh economy after the global crisis.16 They found
that since poor households in Bangladesh are more dependent on remittances, a decline in remittances likely affects household incomes and spending, which ultimately leads to declines in various
sectoral prices and output.
16
The CGE model determines the detailed accounts of the circular flows of receipts and expenditures in an economy and analyses on any
kind of association between various economic agents. The model provides an instrument for policy simulations and experiments (Raihan
and Sugiarto, 2012).
Information
servicesservices
related to
Information
7 related to migration
migration
Chapter
n Bangladesh there are various organizations and their affiliated institutions that provide
information on labour migration-related issues and the areas in which they work. However,
updated data and statistics are not available in all cases. Moreover, labour migration indicators,
such as district-wise data on workers and data on returnees, are not systematically available. Table
13 shows an online of the availability of information on labour migration issues from various
organizations and their affiliated institution.
Table 13: Organizations sources of online information and areas covered
Organization
Ministry of Expatriate
Welfare and Overseas
Employment (MEWOE)
Types of available information
Brief on the available information
Acts, rules, and policies related

to labour migration
All regulations related to migration process, remittances,

and licensing of recruiting agencies
Data and statistics
Category-wise and year-wise data on overseas employment

and remittances
Development projects
All types of projects undertaken to support and develop

skills for the economys migrating labour force
Data and statistics
Updated data on overseas employment, remittances,

female migrant workers, among others
Acts, policies, and other
All types of acts, policies, and migration related

publications
Forms
All types of forms required for migrant workers and

recruiting agents
List of recruiting agents
Recruiting agents that are currently affiliated with BMET

and list of suspended agents
Welfare programmes
Various welfare programmes adopted by the Government

for the development of labour migration in Bangladesh and
supporting migrant workers
Bangladesh Bank
Remittance flow
Monthly and yearly remittance inflows
Bangladesh Overseas
Employment and
Services Ltd. (BOESL)
Overseas job opportunities
Job opportunities in various sectors of the economy
Data and statistics
Country-wise migration data
Refugee and Migratory

Movements Research
Unit (RMMRU)
Projects and programmes

undertaken in collaboration
with other organizations on
migration-related issues
Up-to-date programmes that benefit migrant workers is one

of the primary goals of RMMRU
Bureau of Manpower
Employment and
Training (BMET)
Research publications on
various aspects of migration
International
Organization for
Migration-Dhaka
Facts and figures on labour

migration in Bangladesh
Numbers of estimated migrants, share of female migrants,

volume of remittance, among other statistics
Migration-related programmes
Programmes on migration management, facilitation of

migration, dialogues and cooperation relating to migration
Source: Compiled from websites of the relevant organizations.
48
Among the various national organizations in Bangladesh, BMET is the best source of information related to labour migration. Statistical data are regularly updated on BMETs website. However, there is still a lack of data on many labour migration indicators that would provide a more
complete profile of the migration trends in Bangladesh. Data on the age composition of migrant
workers, district-wise numbers of migrating workers, number of returnees from various destination countries, among other figures could be included in the database to provide a more complete
picture of labour migration in Bangladesh. The main objective of the MEWOE is to enhance
overseas employment and the flow of remittances into the economy while simultaneously ensuring the welfare of the migrant workers. The departments under the MEWOE conduct activities
related to the various aspects of the labour migration in Bangladesh. Systematic recordkeeping on
several aspects of migration is needed and requires coordination among the various departments
within the Ministry. Each department should maintain complete records on the issues for which
its responsible and cooperate with the MEWOE to develop a consolidated database.
The Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd. (BOESL) aims to provide job opportunities in various sectors of the economy though at a limited scale. Data provided on the organization
website is not updated and very limited regarding indicators on labour migration. There are many
other organizations that aim to provide information on various aspects of labour migration including research organizations and NGOs. Coordinated efforts are required from various government
bodies, national and international organizations, research organizations, and NGOs, in order to
develop a comprehensive database that captures all relevant indicators to provide a full profile of
labour migration in Bangladesh.
Chapter 7: Information services related to migration
Part 2:
Profile analysis and

implications for action
49
Profile analysis
and and
Profile analysis
2 implications
for action
implications
for action
Part
igrant workers from Bangladesh, who are predominantly unskilled, currently meet
labour shortages in the GCC countries. These destination countries have opened up
their labour markets on a short-term basis to unskilled and semi-skilled foreign workers
from South Asian countries. Bangladeshi migrant workers are paid low wages in the destination
countries due to a lack of competitiveness compared to workers from other countries. In order
to enhance the competitiveness of these workers, skills of migrant workers must be enhanced to
match demand in the destination countries. In this context, skills development programmes in
Bangladesh need to be restructured such that they are relevant to the demand in the destination
countries. A mechanism needs to be established for incorporating skill requirements into the
recruitment process.
It is also necessary to ensure coordination among the rules and policies for labour migration with
skill development policies in order to keep balance between short-term needs and long-term sustainability of jobs for migrant workers (ILO, 2008). TVET system effectiveness for employability
of migrant workers is only possible if standardized training is internationally benchmarked. Trainees from the training institutions in Bangladesh will be suitable for and competitive in the international market if their training is provided and certified by recognized institutions. To improve
the overall training apparatus, training institutions need to well-equip its facilities with trainers,
develop assessors, and maintain regular dialogues with industries. Necessary approaches to facilitate the labour migration process are detailed below.
A. Required measures to ensure the recruitment process follows existing rules and policies
i. Monitoring and supervision
For promoting transparency and openness in recruitment processes, monitoring and supervision
of recruitment practices need to be strengthened. In this context, the Monitoring and Enforcement Wing of the MEWOE needs to be strengthened in reporting non-compliant recruiting agencies, discovering anomalies in the recruiting process, and checking migration process irregularities.
In order to avoid corruption within the monitoring process, a committee can be established under
this wing consisting of representatives from the MEWOE, BMET, labour organizations, and civil
society organizations working on migration issues. The committee will be given the responsibility to conduct regular monitoring of the recruitment process and performance of the recruiting
agents. Regular inspections at the airports and monitoring of DEMO offices need to be conducted. A separate unit under the BMET may be established for monitoring various aspects of female
labour migration.
According to the Overseas Employment and Migrants Act 2013, the Government needs to classify private recruiting agencies such that workers can clearly understand the performance of these
agencies and select a proper agency for their overseas recruitment process. Criteria for classification should be their professional capacity in terms of ensuring and promoting decent work for
52
migrant workers, protection of workers rights, cooperating with the BMET through disseminating information on foreign demand for workers, and enhancing the knowledge base of public and
private training providers on in-demand skills in the destination countries. The agencies should
be monitored and the assigned categories re-evaluated every year depending on their performance
and standards. These categories should be published on the BMET website so that the overseas
companies hiring workers from Bangladesh also become aware of the agencies performance and
select their contacts accordingly. Each agency should maintain transparency and openness in the
recruitment process, preventing slippage of migrant workers into any form of irregularities.
ii. Consultative process in fixing cost structure

A consultative process is required between the Government and private recruiting agencies to
arrive at a mutually recognizable cost structure for migration. The existing cost structure fixed
by the Government does not incentivize private agencies to select and hiring workers from the
government database. Meanwhile, many agencies victimize the workers by imposing high costs of
migration. In providing licenses to the recruitment agencies, the Government needs to conduct
proper assessments on the financial aspects of the agencies. Regular dialogues and consultation
between government organizations and private agencies is necessary regarding various aspects of
the migration process.
iii. Developing the registration process for migrant workers

Selecting workers through the BMET database has not been adopted by the private agents due to
certain anomalies persisting within the system. The database is unable to provide correct information on workers occupations. This is due to flaws in the registration process. Workers in remote
areas register their occupations through union offices, but this is done without judging their actual
expertise. Preparing the database requires experts who have knowledge of migration-related issues
and are well-equipped with the criteria required for each occupation. Training on relevant computer skills may be provided to officials engaged in the data entry process. Public-private collaboration may also be a solution for developing an effective database that ensures a flawless mechanism
for worker selection. Engaging recruiting agents and TTCs in the registration process may be more
effective and convenient for migrant workers as well.
B. Mechanism for developing a relevant training structure for effective demand-supply

matching in the migration process
i. Research for expansion in new markets and diversification of occupation demand
It was mentioned before that demand for Bangladeshi workers in many GCC countries and Malaysia has been decreased or prohibited due to various factors. Under the circumstances, researchbased initiatives are required to explore actual skill requirements in these destination countries.
Demand for semi-skilled and skilled labourers should also be explored so that relevant skills development programmes can be improved to meet those requirements. Research on this issue can be
undertaken by officials in the Bangladesh embassies in major destination countries, which would
simultaneously develop the embassies human resources capacity.
53
Initiating research initiatives requires funding from the Government to development a research
cell in the MEWOE. Project-based initiatives may also be undertaken by the Government in developing the research cell. Human resources in the Bangladesh embassies in the major destination
countries need to be developed to conduct research in this area.
ii. Resource allocation and effective utilization

Need-based training for migrant workers first requires an overhaul of the existing training structure
to meet competency levels that will certify domestic industry workers according to the NTVQF.
Domestically recognized certifications will then need to achieve international recognition and accreditation. Conversion of existing trainings programmes into CBT requires resource allocation
to the training institutes from skills development projects, development agencies, and government budget. A resource distribution plan needs to be developed in an efficient manner in order
for funding to reach institutions at the right time for procurement and upgrading equipment,
purchasing raw materials for trainings, and training teachers. Effective utilization of the allocated
resources should be ensured through maintaining transparency at the institutional level and proper
monitoring by the Government.
Resource allocation is also required under the Ministry of Education to motivate and incentivize
students to participate in TVET programmes, as well as fund students to undertake TVET training.
iii. Institutional capacity building

For efficient implementation of TVET programmes and the development of skills development
programmes, human resource capacity in BMETs training department needs to be upgraded.
As was mentioned before, skills development training for migrant workers will not be effective
unless CBT is efficiently implemented. BTEB is not sufficiently equipped in conduct its various
functions, including curriculum development, preparation of assessors for CBT implementation,
and efficient functioning of the RPL system. Investment in BTEB needs to be undertaken to develop its institutional structure with efficient human resource deployment, upgrade equipment for
instruction, and develop other infrastructure. Proficient implementation of various government
projects, including the development of a CBT cell, needs to be ensured through deploying human
and financial resources effectively. NSDC needs to be more organized to efficiently coordinate
TVET programmes provided under public and private institutions through varying strategies according to specific requirements. Developing curricula and introducing more technical courses at
the HSC vocational level could be a step towards building a better workforce with technical and
vocational education. The establishment of accommodation facilities at public and private training
institutions is important for meeting the needs of trainees, especially for female workers.
iv. Institutional coordination

Institutional coordination is required among BMET, BTEB, and DTE to establish demand-supply
linkages for migrant workers through developing course curricula for trainings and conducting
regular monitoring and assessment of the trainings provided at TTCs. There is a severe lack of
oversight of training programmes at private training centres, as revealed by the survey by NSDC
and BTEB (2014). The prevailing deficiencies within the training structure at the private agencies and institutions need to be addressed through a coordinated effort by BMET, BTEB, and
54
the training institutions. A coordination unit may be established under MEWOE to ensure coordinated training development and delivery for the migrant workers. This unit will also establish
linkages between the committee for curriculum development at BTEB and the BMET delegates
who visit foreign countries to collect information on foreign demand for migrant workers. During
these visits, information should be collected on skill and competency demand in the foreign countries. A proper mechanism should be established to disseminate information collected thorough
these visits to the curriculum development committee and the training centres. This coordination
unit may work in collaboration with the research cell as mentioned before. The overall process of
coordination can be facilitated through technical assistance from the ILO.
v. Inclusion of relevant stakeholders in developing the training structure

Developing a training structure relevant to current international market-based demand requires
participation by relevant stakeholders in the restructuring process. As it has been observed during
the study, principals and some officials at the TTCs are aware of the required training programmes
for workers. Measures need to be adopted for capacity building of these officials through providing
training to them. It may also be beneficial to involve them in curriculum development and recruitment of trainers at the training centres. In these cases, consultations with the private recruitment
agencies should also be conducted as they are more aware of foreign demand due to their close
proximity to overseas employers and migrant workers. Public-private collaboration may be an important mechanism for developing a training structure to meet skill and competency level demand
in destination countries.
vi. Developing assessors for training institutes

One of the major challenges in implementing CBT, NTVQF, and the systematic functioning of
the RPL system is a lack of assessors at the training institutes. Project-based initiatives need to be
adopted to develop assessors so that the existing CBT standards developed for 34 occupations can be
implemented. Assessors with practical work experience in industry are required. The Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP) for Bangladesh has undertaken an initiative in collaboration with
UCEP to develop assessors. Coordination with industry is required to identify industrial workers and
supervisors who have the potential to become assessors at training institutes, RPL centres, and ISCs.
vii. Recruitment process of trainers and their capacity building

Trainers at the TTCs need to be provided regular trainings to upgrade their training capacities.
The trainers should be acquainted with practical work experience at the industrial level. Thus, the
trainers need to be sent to update their knowledge about equipment used in the industries. Since
the export-oriented industries in the export processing zones (EPZs) in Bangladesh use modern
and updated technologies for production, trainers and trainees from the TTCs may be sent to
these industries during their training process. This will facilitate migrant workers by making them
familiar with up-to-date technology that will be encountered during their overseas employment.
Some recruiting agencies hire returnees as trainers in their training institutions. This is a positive
approach towards developing the training structure for migrant workers. Since the returnees are
more aware of the requirements in the foreign companies, their practical experience would help
develop appropriate local training and make the trainee migrant workers capable of the work
55
encountered in the destination countries. TTCs under BMET can further think of integrating returnees into their training programmes. In the case of female migrant workers, the training centres
can recruit returning female migrants to provide short-term counselling services on safe migration
processes for female workers through their practical experiences. This service, if provided during
the orientation courses, will help future female migrants to cope and deal with the new sociocultural situations in the destination countries.
C. Facilitating female migrant workers

Female migrant workers face several challenges during the recruitment process for overseas jobs
and also during their stints overseas, which have been in chapters 2, 3, and 5. Safe migration of
female workers and protecting their rights in the destination countries should be ensured by holding regular dialogues among BMET officials, BAIRA members, and workers organizations. The
following measures need to be adopted for female worker skills development and rights protection
during their employment in the destination countries:
Diversification of skills of female workers is required for promoting employability in diversified
jobs through encouraging them to adopt trainings and build their skills in non-traditional occupations at the TTCs .
Skills development for female workers in diversified occupations can be followed by efforts
by the Government to develop negotiations with destination countries for recruiting female
migrant workers into occupations beyond housekeeping.
For protecting the rights of female workers in the destination countries, female labour attachs may
be appointed in key destination countries where relatively large numbers of female workers migrate.
Accommodation facilities for female workers at the training centres need to be improved in
order to ensure their security and quality food and lodging.
Orientation trainings need to be extended for female workers with more focus on foreign language acquisition and the socio-economic aspects of the destination countries.
Female workers need to be provided with advice and support for sending remittances from
their destination countries.
D. Awareness building on safe migration and skills upgrading

An awareness building campaign on the lawful migration process needs to be adopted nationwide.
Aspirant migrant workers also need to be provided with information on the necessary documents
required for safe migration of workers. The above mentioned information also needs to be disseminated through the TTCs at the district level. An Assistant Commissioner of expatriate welfare at 64
District Employment and Manpower Offices has been created with logistic support to disseminate
migration-related information. This initiative needs to be efficiently implemented to ensure workers access to this information. Awareness also needs to be built among workers to adopt trainings
in various occupations that will ensure their employability in the domestic and international labour markets in the future.
56
E. Required initiatives from the Government

i. Maintain a consolidated database
There is no consolidated database on migration in Bangladesh. Various institutions keep data on
different aspects of labour migration, but to date there is a lack of effort to maintain a complete
database that would provide a complete picture of migration trends in the country. These databases
developed through public and private sector initiatives need to be updated on a regular basis.
ii. Bilateral negotiations and employment model

The Government of Bangladesh has initiated bilateral negotiations to increase migration of workers
to developed countries. These negotiations should cover support provided by Bangladesh and destination countries to enhance migrants work experience during the recruitment process in Bangladesh
and while the workers are employed aborad. Negotiations should also include aspects of skills accreditation and standardization achieved through mutual recognition of certification. Joint initiatives
may be adopted between the country of origin and the destination country in providing standardized
training to the migrant workers. The Government can adopt an employment contract model such
as in Sri Lanka and the Philippines which includes details on a workers skill level, working hours,
wages, health-care issues, holidays, among other details (Wickramasekara, 2011). An employment
model encompassing the above mentioned issues should be used by all the recruitment agencies affiliated with the BMET. The Government should periodically monitor agencies contracts to prevent
any kind of malpractice.
iii. Institutional restructuring of embassies in key destination countries

Stakeholder views reveal that there is a lack of human resource capacity in Bangladeshi Embassies in the destination countries, especially in the GCC countries where there is a large volume of
Bangladeshi workers. This impedes processes to deal with problems that arise for workers in those
countries. Embassies should be provided with adequate support staff. The support staff working in
these countries must possess language skills and knowledge of other issues related to the overseas
employed workers.
MEWOE needs to undertake an initiative to deploy a sufficient number of labour attachs in key
destination countries and expand their roles in terms of providing support related to the protection
of workers rights and supporting them in cases of passport-related problems.
iv. Regular dialogues with destination countries

The Government needs make an effort to hold regular dialogues with the destination countries on
the issues of safe migration and protection of workers rights. Representatives from BAIRA, workers organizations, and returnees should be included in these dialogues.
v. Keeping records on returnees and their re-integration

An issue of concern related to migration in Bangladesh is the lack of systematic records maintained
on departing and returning migrant workers. Recordkeeping on the returning workers is required
for proper planning in integrating them back into the domestic economy. Initiatives have recently
been undertaken to keep records on the returnees, which needs to be implemented as quickly as
possible. It has been mentioned before that the Government has set up a system where the workers
57
are given a smart card before going for overseas jobs. The smart card includes information on the
employer, the agency, the employment country, and the details of employment. All of the information is stored on a chip in the smart card. Since it is a machine readable digital card, initiatives may
be undertaken to make this card accepted internationally. A system may be developed in which
workers can enter their information through punching the card at immigration while leaving the
country and during their return.
Initiatives should be taken by the Government in cooperation with private sector organizations for
the reintegration of returning migrant workers into the economy and ensure their socio-economic
well-being. Figure 6 shows a list of actions under various sub-headings that may be undertaken for
the reintegration of returnees.
Figure 6: Measures for integrating returning migrant workers
Development of consolidated database
Skills assessment and upgrade
1. District-wise data
1. Assessment of expertise through RTOs
2. Socio-economic profile
2. Certification through RPL
3. Information on expertise
3. Upgrade skills under NTVQF
4. Prior country of destination

5. Volume and pattern of remittances
and saving
Re-integration
of returning
migrants
Develop entrepreneurship
Institutional support
1. Training on trade
1. Capacity building of DEMOs for supporting data-
2. Counselling on entrepreneurship
development
base system on returning migrants

2. Public-private partnerships to develop database
and support system
3. Establish financial support system
F. Role of development agencies

Addressing the prevailing gaps within various aspects of the migration process is not possible for
the Government of Bangladesh alone without support from international development agencies
and NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies, and local NGOs. To date, development agencies
have supported the Government at the project level and extended technical support on various
aspects of migration. The supportive measures extended through projects in collaboration with
the Government of Bangladesh include technical support from the ILO in policy formulation, the
Decent Work Programme, and various TVET development programmes. Projects addressing vari-
58
Table 14: Mechanisms for supporting the Government in developing the migration process and capacity building of migrant workers
Development agencies
Mechanism for support
International NGOs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Bilateral and multilateral

development agencies
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Local NGOs
1.
2.
Provide technical support to the Government for developing linkages between the regulations related to migration and the National Skills Development Policy, 2011.
Enhance technical support to BMET in developing a research cell and coordination unit
to ensure matching between in-demand skills in the destination countries and the supply of migrant workers.
Encourage regular dialogues between the officials of MEWOE, BMET, members of BAIRA, and workers organizations aimed at establishing cooperation among the stakeholders and improve the recruitment process for migrant workers.
Provide financial support for infrastructure and capacity building of public and private
training institutions and local NGOs in developing a training structure for migrant workers.
Provide technical and financial support to standardize the CBT and NTVQF certification
process.
Provide effective supervision of the implementation and resource utilization in the skills
development programmes, especially for migrant workers, funded by international development agencies.
Provide technical support to BTEB in developing curricula and infrastructure for tradebased training to migrant workers.
Encourage regular dialogues with BTEB and domestic industries to ensure collaboration
in developing assessors for skills development programmes and the RPL system.
Arrange regular dialogues between the Government and training providers to upgrade
trainings by incorporating skills requirements for the international job market.
Provide technical and financial support to training institutions to develop physical infrastructure for training. Also, provide technical leadership and financial support to these
institutions and local NGOs to provide training under NTVQF.
Provide technical support to the MEWOE in collaboration with local NGOs to develop a
recordkeeping system on returnees.
Provide technical support to local NGOs, SME Foundation, among others, to provide
counseling courses to returnees on entrepreneurship development.
Initiate an awareness campaign at the national level in collaboration with the BMET for
safe migration and the importance for workers to obtain skills development training.
NGOs that have district- or union-level offices and are working on gender related issues
should adopt programmes in collaboration with bilateral development agencies for female migrants addressing the following issues:
Support female workers with the formalities of migration (e.g. medical check-up,
passport and visa related procedures, among others) through local NGO offices.
Initiate basic orientation courses for female workers at the community level on the
overall migration process.
Provide the returning female migrants with financial support and advisory services in entrepreneurship development.
ous areas of skills development include the World Banks Skills and Training Enhancement Project
(STEP), Skills and Employment Programme Bangladesh (SEP-B) implemented by GRM International in partnership with Swisscontact and the British Council, Skills Training Project funded by
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and SDC, and Bangladesh Skills for Employment and Productivity Project (BSEP) initiated by the Government of Bangladesh with technical support from
ILO and financed by the Canadian Government. These supportive projects aim to address areas
of policy formation concerning migrant workers recruitment process, capacity building of policymakers and training providers, protecting rights of migrant workers, ensuring decent employment
59
opportunities for migrant workers, among others. However, there are gaps within the implementation of these projects in terms of establishing linkages between skills development programmes and
the migrant workers of Bangladesh. Development agencies need to focus on specific mechanisms
for establishing the linkages and addressing the demand-supply gap of migrant workers in terms of
required skills and competitiveness in the destination countries. Moreover, certain skills development programmes such as TVET programmes have not achieved expected results at the national
level due to a lack of infrastructure and human resources. Coordination efforts among the Government, local organizations, and development agencies are required for the effective implementation
of the various programmes. Table 14 below lists mechanisms through which development agencies
can support the Government of Bangladesh to establish a competent training structure for skills
development that will make migrant workers competitive in the international labour market and
ensure demand-supply matching in the migration process.
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63
64
List ofListkey
informants
of key informants
interviewed
interviewed
Annex I
Stakeholders from public and private sector

1. Azharul Haq (Joint Secretary Welfare & Mission, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and
Overseas Employment)
2. Begum Shamsunnahar (Director General, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training
BMET)
3. Dr Md Nurul Islam (Director, Training, Standard & Planning, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training BMET)
4. Dr Engr Md Sakawat Ali (Principal, Bangladesh-Korea Technical Training Centre BKTTC, BMET)
5. Dr Selim Raihan (Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh;
Executive Director, South Asian Network on Economic Modeling SANEM)
6. Gabriel H. Bordado (Technical Adviser, TVET Quality and Relevance, B-SEP Project, ILO
Country Office for Bangladesh)
7. Haripada Das (Programme Officer, TVET Reform Project, ILO Country Office for Bangladesh)
8. Hassan Imam (Programme Coordinator, Migration Programme, BRAC)
9. Kazi Abul Kalam (Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment)
10. Marina Sultana (Programme Manager, AMR Project, RMMRU)
11. Md Faisal Mufti (Assistant Director, Directorate of Technical Education)
12. Md Golam Mostafa Khan (Director, Emigration, Bureau of Manpower Employment and
Training BMET)
13. Md Khalilur Rahman (Director, Training, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training
BMET)
14. Md Rasedul Islam (Vice-Principal, Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Womens Technical Training
Centre, BMET)
15. Md Sazzad Hossain (Principal, Bangladesh-German Technical Training Center BGTTC,
BMET)
16. Md Zahirul Islam (General Manager, Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited BOESL)
17. Mohammad Faisal Mufti (Assistant Director, Directorate of Technical Education DTE)
18. Mohammad Rezaul Karim (Deputy Secretary, NSDC Secretariat, Ministry of Labour and
Employment)
19. Mr Habib (Principal, Thangamara Mohila Shobuj Shongho TMSS, Bogra)
20. Ms Fouzia Shahnaz (Principal, Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Womens Technical Training Centre,
BMET)
66
21. Ms Nadia (Trainer, Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme OKUP)

22. Ms Nasrin (Course Coordinator, Montage Training & Certification Center)
23. Nazia Haider (Senior Programme Officer, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
SDC, Embassy of Switzerland
24. Professor Md Abul Kashem (Chairman, Bangladesh Technical Education Board BTEB)
25. Saidur Rahman (Deputy Director, Directorate of Technical Education DTE)
26. Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman (EC Member, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA)
27. S.M. Shahjahan (Deputy Inspector, CBT Cell, Bangladesh Technical Education Board BTEB)
28. Sk Al-Ferubi (Assistant Director, Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training BMET)
Recruiting agency representatives

1. Ali Haider Chowdhury (Managing Partner, NAC International; Secretary General, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA)
2. Ataharul Islam (General Manager, A.M. Air Travels Limited; Member, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA)
3. Md Abul Bashar (President, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies
BAIRA)
4. Mohammad Abdul Hye (Chairman, Greenland Group; Member, Bangladesh Association of
International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA)
5. Mohammad Obaidul Areef (Managing Director, Orchid View Ltd.; Member, Bangladesh
Association of International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA)
6. Mohammed Ruhul Amin (Chairman, Catharsis International; Member, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA)
7. Mozibur Rahman Mozib (Proprietor, Monzil Overseas; Member, Bangladesh Association of
8. Nasir Uddin Mojumder (Proprietor, Madina Overseas; Member, Bangladesh Association of
9. Raquib Mohammad Fakhrul (Proprietor, Munshi Enterprise Limited; Member, Bangladesh
Association of International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA)
10. Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman (Proprietor, Sadia International; EC Member, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies BAIRA)
Migrant workers
A group of migrant workers and returnees were interviewed for this study.
Total employment of migrant

Total employment of migrant
workers
and remittance
workers
and remittance
by destination
country
inflow inflow
by destination
country
Annex II
Country
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Kuwait
Qatar
Malaysia
Total Employment
(Including other all other
destination countries)
1976
217
1 989
643
1 221
6 087
23.71
1977
1 379
5 819
1 315
2 262
15 725
82.79
1978
3 212
7 512
2 243
1 303
23
22 809
106.90
Year
Remittances*
(US$ millions)
1979
6 476
5 069
2 298
1 383
24 495
172.06
1980
8 695
4 847
3 687
1 455
30 073
301.33
1981
13 384
6 418
5 464
2 268
55 787
304.88
1982
16 294
6 863
7 244
6 252
62 762
490.77
1983
12 928
6 615
10 283
7 556
23
59 220
627.51
1984
20 399
5 185
5 627
2 726
56 714
500.00
1985
37 133
8 336
7 384
4 751
77 694
500.00
1986
27 235
8 790
10 286
4 847
530
68 658
576.20
1987
39 292
9 953
9 559
5 889
74 017
747.60
1988
27 622
13 437
6 524
7 390
68 121
763.90
1989
39 949
15 184
12 404
8 462
401
101 724
757.84
1990
57 486
8 307
5 957
7 672
1 385
103 814
781.54
1991
75 656
8 583
28 574
3 772
1 628
147 156
769.30
1992
93 132
12 975
34 377
3 251
10 537
188 124
901.97
1993
106 387
15 810
26 407
2 441
67 938
244 508
1 009.09
1994
91 385
15 051
14 912
624
47 826
186 326
1 153.54
1995
84 009
14 686
17 492
71
35 174
187 543
1 201.52
1996
72 734
23 812
21 042
112
66 631
211 714
1 355.34
1997
106 534
54 719
21 126
1 873
2 844
231 077
1 525.03
1998
158 715
38 796
25 444
6 806
551
267 667
1 599.24
1999
185 739
32 344
22 400
5 611
268 182
1 806.63
2000
144 618
34 034
594
1 433
17 237
222 686
1 954.95
2001
137 248
16 252
5 341
223
4 921
188 965
2 071.03
2002
163 269
25 462
15 769
552
85
225 256
2 847.79
2003
162 131
37 346
26 722
94
28
254 190
3 177.63
2004
139 031
47 012
41 108
1 268
224
272 958
3 565.31
68
Country
Year
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Kuwait
Qatar
Malaysia
Total Employment
(Including other all other
destination countries)
2005
80 425
61 978
47 029
2 114
2 911
252 702
Remittances*
(US$ millions)
4 249.87
2006
109 513
130 204
35 775
7691
20 469
381 516
5 484.08
2007
204 112
226 392
4 212
15 130
273 201
832 609
6 562.71
2008
132 124
419 355
319
25 548
131 762
875 055
8 979.00
2009
14 666
258 348
10
11 672
12 402
475 278
10 717.73
2010
7 069
203 308
48
12 085
919
390 702
11 004.73
2011
15 039
282 739
29
13 111
742
568 062
12 168.09
2012
21 232
215 452
28 801
804
607 798
14 163.99
2013
12 654
14 241
57 584
3 853
409 253
13 832.00
2014
7 652
15 235
1 706
53 152
3 388
270 181
8 947.00
Total
2 636 775
2 318 458
481 362
320 456
708 442
8 987 183
127 785.00
*Remittances up to July 2014

Sources: BMET; remittance figures from Bangladesh Bank.
TTC pass
rates, 2013
TTC pass
rates,
2013
Annex III
Trade name
Duration
No. of trainees passed
% of total
Diploma in marine engineering
4 years
437
0.48
Diploma in shipbuilding engineering
4 years
433
0.48
Certificate in marine diesel engine artificer
2 years
165
0.18
Certificate in ship fabrication
2 years
137
0.15
Certificate in shipbuilding welding
2 years
144
0.16
Certificate in shipbuilding & mechanical drafting
2 years
151
0.17
Refrigeration & air-conditioning
2 years
1 518
1.67
Machine tools operation
2 years
276
0.30
Automotive
2 years
1 199
1.32
General electrical works
2 years
1 778
1.96
Drafting civil with computer-aided design (CAD)
2 years
260
0.29
Civil construction
2 years
450
0.49
Drafting mechanical with CAD
2 years
143
0.16
General electronics
2 years
1 739
1.91
General mechanics
2 years
285
0.31
Plumbing & pipe fitting
2 years
200
0.22
Welding & fabrication
2 years
785
0.86
Woodworking
2 years
353
0.39
Electrical maintenance works
2 years
492
0.54
Farm machinery
2 years
45
0.05
Dressmaking
2 years
49
0.05
Food processing & preservation
2 years
185
0.20
Architectural drafting with AutoCAD
2 years
529
0.58
Dyeing printing & block batik
2 years
49
0.05
2 years
40
0.04
Ship fabrication and welding
Computer operation
6 months
90
0.10
Ship safety and fire fighting
6 months
120
0.13
Marine pipe fitting
6 months
90
0.10
Marine engine and mechanical fitter
6 months
120
0.13
Auto CAD 2D & 3D
6 months
294
0.32
Welding & fabrication
6 months
925
1.02
General mechanics
6 months
80
0.09
Electrical machine maintenance
6 months
344
0.38
Electrical house wiring
6 months
1 863
2.05
Computer operation
6 months
6 850
7.53
Graphics design
6 months
714
0.79
Consumer electronics
6 months
875
0.96
70
Trade name
Duration
No. of trainees passed
% of total
Refrigeration & air-conditioning
6 months
1 734
1.91
Dressmaking/garments
6 months
1 399
1.54
Auto mechanics
6 months
890
0.98
Auto mechanics with driving.
6 months
1 409
1.55
Plumbing & pipe fitting
6 months
140
0.15
Civil construction
6 months
86
0.09
Boutique/block batik
6 months
421
0.46
Machine tools operation
6 months
199
0.22
Mid-level garments supervisor
6 months
143
0.16
Quality control management
6 months
296
0.33
Fruit & food processing
6 months
406
0.45
Plastic technology
6 months
101
0.11
Carpentry/woodworking
6 months
97
0.11
Catering
6 months
70
0.08
Architectural drafting with AutoCAD
6 months
574
0.63
Welding (6G)
3 months
35
0.04
2.5 months
92
0.10
Sewing machine operator

Solar Home System
2 months
265
0.29
Korean language
2 months
779
0.86
Pattern making, marker making & cutting
1.5 months
414
0.46
Rod binding
1.5 months
20
0.02
Sewing machinery maintenance
1.5 months
46
0.05
Sweater and linking machine operator
1.5 months
30
0.03
21 days
42 767
47.03
Employment Permit System-Test of Proficiency in Korean

(EPS-TOPIK)
7 days
1677
1.84
Orientation training
3 days
12 648
13.91
90 945
Housekeeping
Total
Source: BMET.
Annex
71

International labour migration contributes to the Bangladesh economy both in terms of addressing
the unemployment and underemployment and helping to keep foreign currency reserves stable
through remittances. The labour migration trend in Bangladesh is characterized by an outflow
of low- and semi-skilled workers. These workers are concentrated in short-term and low wage
employment. The jobseekers registration based on the international occupational classification is
urgent to enable comparability of skill levels with the countries of destination. There is also a need
to align training and assessment with the Bangladesh National Technical and Vocational Qualifications Frameworks. Investment in awareness about living and working abroad is required. Outreach
services are required to expand the use and benefit of the Recognition of Prior Learning to both
outgoing and returning migrant workers and to build career trajectories of those workers who can
afford only a few weeks to a few months-long technical training. Undeniably, there is a need for
greater coordination of efforts in terms of developing workers skills and improving governance of
overseas employment recruitment, in particular, job-matching.

Probashi Kalyan Bhaban
71-72, Old Elephant Road, Eskaton Garden
Tel.: 88 02 8333604
Fax: 88 02 9330766
Email: js@probashi.gov.bd
Website: http://www.probashi.gov.bd

89/2, Kakrail
Tel.: +88 02 9357972, 9349925
Fax: +88 02 8331117
Email: bmet@bmet.org.bd
Website: http://www.bmet.gov.bd

House No. S.E.(G) 2
Road No. 140, Gulshan 1
Tel.: + 88 02 9883973, 9883978
Fax: + 88 02 9883982
Email: DHAKA@ilo.org
Website: https://www.ilo.org/dhaka
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ILO.ORG
Twitter: @ILONEWS
ILOTV: http://www.youtube.com/ilotv
Published by the International Labour Organization
with financial assistance from the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation under the "Promoting
Decent Work through Improved Migration Policy and its
Application in Bangladesh" project.

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Skills for the international labour market:

Bangladesh country report

ILO Country Office for Bangladesh

Skills for the international labour market:

Publication data for citation

Part 1: Country profile of migration

1. Background of the report

2. Demand-supply matching in the migration process

2.1 Establishing demand for migrant workers

3. Preparation of migrant workers

3.1 Historical connections of workers

4. Role of the Government in promoting migration

4.1 Government policies and planning

5. Services for migrant workers

5.1 Pre-departure services

6. Maximizing economic value from returning migrants

6.1 Benefits to the labour market

7. Information services related to migration

Part 2: Profile analysis and implications for action

Flow of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia by skill, 2005-12

Official process of migration from Bangladesh to various destination countries

Female worker subject to malpractices of the recruitment system

Abbreviations and acronyms

Asian Development Bank

National Skills Development Council

Country profile on labour migration: key issues

Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report

Areas of concern and implications for action

Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report

Country profile of migration

Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report

1.2 Study objective and research questions

Chapter 1: Background of the Report

Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report

2.1 Establishing demand for migrant workers

Source: ILO, 2014b.

Chapter 2: Demand-supply matching in the migration process

2.2 Demand trend

Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report

Table 1: Flow of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia by skill, 2005-12

Source: ILO, 2014c

Chapter 2: Demand-supply matching in the migration process

2.3 Connecting workers with demand

Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report

2.4 Recruitment and selection process

Chapter 2: Demand-supply matching in the migration process

Table 2: Cost structure of migration in Bangladesh

Cost range* of migration

650 000 750 000

566 000 666 000

550 000 600 000

466 000 516 000

220 000 250 000

136 000 166 000

250 000 320 000

166 000 236 000

250 000 300 000

166 000 216 000

Inform the selected

Three members Local Skills

SMS for TTC enrollment

Skills for the international labour market: Bangladesh country report

2.5 Malpractice in the recruitment system

Chapter 2: Demand-supply matching in the migration process